Present Simple and Present Continuous
Present Simple Present Continuous
Positive/ I/you/we/they work I am working
affirmative he/she/it works you/we/they are working
he/she/it is working
Negative I don’t work I am not working
he doesn’t work you are not working
he is not working
Interrogative Do I work? Am I working...?
Does he work...? Are you working...?
Is he working...?
Short Yes, I do. /No, I don’t. Yes, I am. /No. I’m not
answers Yes, he does. /No, he doesn’t. Yes, you are. /No, you aren’t.
Yes, he is. /No, he isn’t.
Rules • Permanent situations or states, feelings or • Temporary situations= happening now at the
opinions moment of speaking
• Permanent truths or laws of nature (facts) • Actions happening at or around the moment
• Repeated/habitual actions=routines & of speaking, not just now
habits • Changing or developing situations
• Irritating habits, usually with always
Time every day/week/ month/year, on Mondays/ now, at the moment, at present, nowadays,
expressions Tuesdays, at night, once/twice a d./w./m.… today, tonight, this day/week/month…
always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely,
never,
State verbs and Activity verbs
State verbs
Some verbs are not used in continuous tenses. They describe states rather than actions and can be
divided into four categories:
State verbs -of mind: admit, agree, assume, believe, consider, doubt, expect, forget, imagine, know,
mean, prefer, realise, remember, suppose, think, understand
-of emotion: care, detest, envy, hate, hope, like, love, prefer, want, wish
-of having and being: appear, be, belong, come from, contain, cost, depend, have, need,
seem, own, possess, resemble
-of the senses: feel, hear, look, see, smell, sound, taste (=> followed by adjectives.)
=> describe states, usually used in the simple aspect
- some can be used both in simple and continuous aspect but with a difference in meaning:
We are having lunch. I have a computer. (eat possess)
What are you thinking about? I think you should... (consider believe)
She is looking at us. She looks beautiful. (watch appear)
She is smelling some roses. This soup smells horrible. (activity sense)
Activity verbs => describe activities: play, work, talk, complain
=> can be used in all tenses and aspects