|
Present Simple
|
Present Continuous
|
|
Things which are always true:
-Water boils at 100 degrees.
|
Things which are happening at the moment of speaking:
The water is boiling now, so you can put
in the pasta.
|
|
Permanent situations (or nearly permanent; true for a few
years at least):
-Julie lives in London.
|
Temporary situations:
-Julie is living in Paris for a few months
(usually she lives in London).
Situations which are slowly changing:
-I'm getting better and better at speaking
English.
|
|
Habits or things we do regularly:
-I drink coffee every morning.
|
Temporary or new habits:
-I'm drinking too much coffee these days
because I'm so busy at work.
Annoying habits (usually with 'always'):
-My flatmate is always leaving the kitchen
in a mess!
|
|
Future events which are part of a timetable:
-My plane leaves at eight tonight.
To talk about the future after certain words ('when'
'until' 'after' 'before' 'as soon as'):
-I'll call you when I get home.
|
Definite future plans:
-I'm meeting John after class today.
|
|
To talk about what happens in books, plays and films:
-At the end of the book, the detective catches the
killer.
|
To talk about people in pictures and photos:
-In this photo, my mother is walking beside
a lake.
|
Remember:
We use the present simple with stative verbs. We can't
use any continuous tense (including the present continuous tense, of course)
with stative verbs.
0 Comments