PRESENT SIMPLE V. PRESENT CONTINUOUS ( ENGLISH GRAMMAR )

PRESENT SIMPLE V. PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Hans is German.
He’s coming from Berlin.
He comes from Berlin.
He’s coming from Berlin = an action in progress at the time of speaking.
He comes from Berlin = an actual fact
Q) When do we use the present simple?
A) When we speak about habits, facts/general truths and timetables .It is called ‘simple’ as
its basic form consists of one word only.

Example:
I have a shower every morning. (Habit)
I live in London. (Fact)
The train leaves at 7pm. This is a fixed timetable where the present simple is used to
indicate a future event.
We can also say: We leave for Berlin tomorrow at 7pm, as the speaker sees this as a fixed
event similar to a timetable.
Normally we use state verbs for a fact. Some state verbs are as follows:
Of course some action verbs used for habits can also be seen as a state or a general truth.

Example:
I play tennis. (State/fact/general truth)
I play tennis every week. (Habit)
We can never use state verbs for habit.
I know John (State/fact/general truth)
I know John every week cannot be said.
We can also use the present simple tense when narrating a story; even if the story is in the
past.
We also use the present simple with the zero conditional, which means something which is
always true.

Example:
If you drop an egg, it breaks. (Every time)
If we get up early, we always go jogging. (Every time we get up early)
Q) When do we use the present continuous?
A) We use the present continuous to speak about actions in progress at the moment of
speaking
.
The boy and his father are watching TV
The Affirmative (long form)
I am watching the movie.
You are watching the movie.
He, she, it is watching the movie.
We are watching the movie.
They are watching the movie.
The Question
Am I watching the movie?
Are you watching the movie?
Is he, she, it watching the movie?
Are we watching the movie?
Are they watching the movie?
The negative
I am not watching the movie.
You are not watching the movie.
He, she, it is not watching the movie.
We are not watching the movie.
They are not watching the movie.
Affirmative (short forms)
I’m watching the movie.
You’re watching the movie.
He’s watching the movie.
She’s watching the movie.
It’s watching the movie. (The dog)
We’re watching the movie.
They’re watching the movie.
The negative (short form)
I’m not watching the movie.
You’re not watching the movie.
He’s not watching the movie.
She’s not watching the movie.
It’s not watching the movie.
We’re not watching the movie.
They’re not watching the movie.
There is a variant to the above.
We can abbreviate the negative ‘not’ instead of the auxiliary with the only exception of first
person.

Compare:
You aren’t watching the movie.
He isn’t watching the movie.
She isn’t watching the movie.
It isn’t watching the movie.
We aren’t watching the movie.
You aren’t watching the movie.
There is no contraction (short form) with the question form. The only exception is in third
person singular when using a question word.

Example:
Where is he going? Where’s he going?
What is she doing? What’s she doing?