Learn English Tenses: Present Simple or Present Continuous?

In this lesson, you will learn the difference between the present simple tense and the present continuous tense, which is also called the present progressive tense.

In other words, you'll learn the difference between saying "I work" or "I am working."

So, this lesson is part of a series created by engVid to help you learn all of the English verb tenses.

Now, I have created lessons on each of these tenses separately, and maybe you have already watched them, and now you're watching this, which is great, or you can watch this lesson and then you can go on and watch the other separate lessons so that you can go into more detail if you wish.

So, both of these tenses are basic tenses.

However, they don't exist in all languages, and maybe they don't exist in your language, so pay a little more attention, and as you do, you will understand easily the differences between these tenses.

So, shall we begin? Let's go!

So, the present simple tense sounds like this: "I work."

The present continuous tense sounds like this: "I am working."

So, what's the very basic difference?

The basic difference is that "I am working" talks about something that's happening right now, or something temporary that happens for a short time.

"I work," present simple, talks about something that's true in general, or something more permanent, something that lasts for a long time.

That's the very basic difference, but we're going to be looking at all of the really specific differences between these two tenses.

But first, let's see, what does this tense even look like? What does it sound like?

Let's see that.

So, with present simple, we basically take the subject plus the verb.

In this case, our sample verb is "work."

So, it would sound like this. You can say it after me if you like.

It's good to repeat things out loud, because it helps you to feel more comfortable and get used to using it yourself.

So, we would say: "I work. You work. We work. They work."

But here we have a difference: "He works."

We have to add an "s" there. "She works. It works."

Okay? Again, once you've studied this tense in detail, you'll know all of these changes perfectly, but I'm just giving you an overall view.

When it becomes negative, it becomes "He does not work," or, if it becomes a question, it would say, "Does he work?" Alright?

So, that's the basis of the present simple.

Now, let's look at present continuous.

Here, what happens?

We have a subject (I, he, you, they, etc.) plus the verb "to be." We need that helping verb here, plus our basic verb, which in this case is "work," plus "-ing." So it's a little bit longer because we have that helping verb in the middle, plus we have "-ing" at the end. Okay?

So, how does this sound?

"I am working. You are working. We are working. They are working. He is working. She is working. It is working."

Alright? So, that's the basic positive form of it.

The negative form would be just to add a "not": "You are not working. He is not working."

And if we shorten that, it becomes "He isn't working."

And if we make it into a question, change the order, we would say, "Is he working? Are you working? Are they working?" And so on.

Okay? So, that's the basic structure of the two tenses, and next we will be looking at when to use them.

So, we use these two tenses in different ways. Let's understand now what they are.

So, in the present simple, we would say, for example, "I live in this building."

This is my permanent residence. This is where I live all the time. So, we use present simple: "I live."

In present continuous, we might say, "I am staying at a hotel."

This is something temporary. It's not all the time, it's only for some time. So here, we have "I am staying," which is present continuous. Here we have "I live," which is present simple.

Permanent versus temporary.

Next, we could say, "He plays the guitar."

This is true in general. It means he knows how to play the guitar. He plays. Present simple.

Here, we could say, "He is playing the guitar." That means he's doing that right now. He is playing now.

As soon as we say, "He is playing," even if we don't use the word "now," this tense already means that it's happening right now, okay?

So, he plays in general, but "he is playing the guitar" means it's happening right now.

Another example: "We watch the news at 9:00 p.m."

"We watch," okay? This is to talk about a routine. Every day we watch the news at 9:00 p.m. Alright? So that's to describe a routine, something that happens regularly.

Or, we could say here, "We are watching the news."

"We are watching" means what? In this case, again, it's happening right now, okay? We're watching the news. "Call us later, we're just watching the news." Happening now.

But every day, we watch the news at 9:00. Okay? So that's a routine. That's again something that's happening now.

See the difference?

Let's look at another one: "The sun sets in the west."

"The sun sets," okay? The sun rises in the morning, the sun sets in the evening. This is just a fact, okay?

So, we use present simple to talk about facts.

But here, we could say, "Look, how beautiful, the sun is setting! The sky is all orange and pink and lovely colors."

So, "the sun is setting" means it's happening right now, alright?

So here, it was a fact, the sun sets in the west. It's just a fact. And here, it's happening now.

So, these are the first few differences between these two tenses.

Now, here are some more differences.

In present simple, we would say, "The price rises every year." This is something that happens in general.

In present continuous, we might say, "The price is rising this year." This is a trend, this is the general direction in which things are changing. So here, the price "is rising" this year, but the price "rises every year." Okay? This is present simple.

Next, suppose we want to talk about a habit. We might say, "She always takes the bus."

But here, we might say, "She is always complaining about the bus."

So, when you're talking about a negative habit, we can use present continuous. But if you're just talking about a regular habit, then you would use present simple. Alright?

Next, we could say, in present simple, "The flight leaves at 7:00 p.m."

Now, why do we use present simple for that? Because it's a regularly scheduled event, right? The flight leaves at 7:00 p.m., that's the schedule. It always leaves at 7:00 p.m.

But in present continuous, we might say, "The flight is leaving."

The flight is leaving means what? The flight is leaving right now, okay? And we know that because we have "is leaving." Here, we had just "leaves." Okay.

And now here's something where both of these tenses can actually be used for the same purpose, but in different ways, with different language.

So, we could say, for example, even though this is the present simple, and even though this is the present continuous, until now we have been talking about present uses. But let's look at this example, this is different.

"The flight leaves at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow." What? Really? Leaves, present simple, and tomorrow? Yes, we could say that, and we do say that sometimes.

Why? Because it's kind of connected with this one, because it's a regularly scheduled event, right? Then we could use it to talk about tomorrow, okay? And sometimes we do. So we could say, "The flight leaves at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow," and it's kind of connected to this idea of the schedule, alright?

But similarly, you could also say, "The flight is leaving at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow."

Again, you're saying, "Rebecca, really, this is present continuous, why are we using it to talk about the future?" Because we can!

It has a special use where we can use present continuous to talk about something in the future, but you have to say something like tomorrow, next week, next Monday, next year. You have to give the time, because if you say, "The flight is leaving at 7:00 p.m.," what does it mean? It's leaving right now, or a little bit in the future. But if we say the flight is leaving at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow, then we

They should say "We" - not this - but "We make websites." We make websites.

We manufacture cars. Alright? Like that. Number four: "He gives a presentation now." You know that's wrong.

Why? We even have the word "now", so if it's happening now, it needs to be in which tense?

The present continuous tense. How do we change this? We get rid of "gives" and we say, "He is giving".

He's giving a presentation now. Alright? Good. Number five: "Unemployment goes down this year." Unemployment is people who are out of work, who do not have work.

But it's saying "this year". This is what? This is a trend, this is a way that things are changing.

So, for that, we should use - not present simple, but present continuous. So, this one will be "Unemployment is going down this year." Okay?

Excellent. Number six: "They're always going to bed at 11:00." What's wrong with that? Well, is it a bad thing?

Is it a bad habit to go to bed at 11:00, or is it just a habit?

Well, I think it's just a habit. So, in that case, we cannot say "They are always going to bed", but we just say, "They always go to bed at 11:00." If it was a negative habit, then we could have said the other way.

Number seven: "Are you liking chocolate cake?" That's wrong, but why is it wrong? It's wrong because this is a stative verb, and we said that with most stative verbs, we cannot use the present continuous.

So, instead of all of this, we have to say, "Do you like chocolate cake?" Present simple, with most stative verbs, okay?

Present simple - sorry, with all stative verbs, and the other one with just a few stative verbs.

Number eight: now look at number eight and number nine together, okay? Let's try to understand when we use which one.

Number eight says "What are you doing?" and number nine says "What do you do?".

What is the difference between these two? So, "What do you do?" means what is your job?

What is your profession, what do you do for work? And "What are you doing?" means right now.

Hey, what are you doing? Oh, I'm watching TV, I'm reading the news, okay? So, if you confuse the two, that's a problem.

So, if you meet someone at a networking event, or a party, or a conference, and you want to get to know their profession, their work, it would be wrong in that case to ask them "What are you doing?".

There, you want to know the second one, "What do you do?". But, in number nine, if you call up your friend and you ask him or her "What do you do?", that would be wrong, because you want to ask your friend "Hey, what are you doing?", alright?

So, this one - these two depend on what you mean and who you're talking to, and what it's about.

And accordingly, you will use present continuous or present simple. And the last one here: "She is living in Brazil." That's wrong.

Why? Because we don't have any information to tell us that this is temporary, so this is probably permanent.

This is what happens all the time, or most of the time, so it should be not present continuous but "She lives in Brazil.", okay?

Excellent work! Excellent work correcting them and thinking through them, most important, because that's what you can do when you are working on them by yourself.

Now, we'll finish up by filling in the blanks with the correct tense. So, I've written the verb that you need to use in the blanks at the beginning of the sentence, so, let's read the sentence so you understand what you need to do.

(drink) "Usually, I ____________ tea, but today I __________ coffee". Can you tell which one needs to be in present simple and which one needs to be in present continuous?

In this case, in the same sentence, we need to use both of the tenses.

So, which one goes where? Are you ready? Let me help you out a little bit.

Usually, I - yes - drink, because this is "Usually", most of the time, okay?

Usually I drink tea, but today I - we'll use the contraction, I'm drinking coffee.

Okay? Very good. Number two: now the verb is "start". "Usually, he __________ work at 8:00, but today he _________ at 9:00." What should it be?

Usually, he starts work at 8:00, but today he is starting at 9:00. Okay? Very good.

Number three: "listen" is the verb we need to use. "Usually, we ___________ rock music, but today we _____________ jazz." Usually, we - yes - listen to, we need a preposition there, usually we listen to rock music, but today we - we're listening to jazz.

Okay, you've got it! And number four: (make) "Usually, they ______ rice, but today, they _______ noodles." Use the verb "make".

So, usually they make rice, but today they are making noodles. Great! And you are making a lot of progress!

Okay? So, where do you go from here? Well, if you'd like to review these tenses or learn these tenses, you can watch the full lesson and the class that I've created for each of these tenses, the present simple and

the present continuous so you can certainly do that so that you really understand them very deeply, when to use them, how to use them, and so on, and if you feel quite confident and comfortable and you've got most of these right or all of them right, then you're ready

to move on to the next tense in our series, which is the past simple tense.

And, if you'd like to do a little quiz on this, then please go to www.engvid.com so you can do that.

So, congratulations and I wish you all the best with your English.