PRESENT SIMPLE VS PRESENT CONTINUOUS

 

1) Use

Simple Present	Present Progressive/Continuous
repeated actions	actions happening at the moment of speaking or around the moment of speaking
fixed arrangements, scheduled events (e.g. timetable)	fixed plan in the near future
sequence of actions in the present (first - then, after that)	temporary actions
instructions	trends
things in general	repeated actions which are irritating to the speaker (with always, constantly, forever)
after special verbs

2) Signal words

Simple Present	Present Progressive/Continuous
always, often, usually, sometimes, seldom, never, every day, every week, every year, on Mondays	now, at the moment, Look!, Listen!

3) Form

Simple Present	Present Progressive/Continuous
infinitive 3rd person singular (he, she, it) infinitive + -s	to be (am, are, is) + infinitive + -ing

4) Examples

Simple Present	Present Progressive/Continuous
4-1 Affirmative sentences
I play football.	I am playing football.
You play football.	You are playing football.
He plays football.	He is playing football.

Simple Present	Present Progressive/Continuous
4-2 Negative sentences
I do not play football.	I am not playing football.
You do not play football.	You are not playing football.
He does not play football.	He is not playing football.

Simple Present	Present Progressive/Continuous
4-3 Questions
Do I play football?	Am I playing football?
Do you play football?	Are you playing football?
Does he play football?	Is he playing football?

5) Spelling

Simple Present	Present Progressive/Continuous
watches (-es after sibilant)	sitting (double consonant after short vowel)
goes (-es after -o)	writing (leave out one -e at the end)
hurries (-y to -ie after consonant)	lying (change -ie to -y)

Prepositions of Movement

Prepositions are used to show movement to or from a place.

For example:-

to, through, across

We use to to show movement with the aim of a specific destination.

For example:-
I moved to Germany in 1998.
He's gone to the shops.

We use through to show movement from one side of an enclosed space to the other.    

For example:
The train went through the tunnel.

We use across to show movement from one side of a surface or line to another.

For example:
She swam across the river.

More prepositions of movement

She ran...
	across	the road. (from one side to the other)
	along	the road. (The length of the road.)
	around	the playground.
	away from	the policeman.
	back to	the shop.
	down	the hill.
	into	the room.
	off	the stage.
	onto (on to)	the platform.
	out of	the theatre.
	over	the bridge. (from one side of an open space to the other)
	past	the opening.
	round	the track.
	through	the tunnel.
	to	the door.
	towards	the bus stop.
	under	the shelter.
	up	the hill.

At and in can also be used as prepositions of movement, but they're used to show the purpose of the movement.
For example:
I threw the paper in the bin.
Let's have dinner at my place.
When used after some verbs, the preposition at also shows the target of an action:
The bowler was sent off for throwing the ball at the umpire, instead of to the batsman.

!Note - a lot of sites say that around and round are the same, but there can be a difference, especially in BrE. If someone says "they were running around", it implies the movement is erratic.
For example: Children tend to run around at school.
In BrE when we use "round" we imply a more definite purpose and a more circular movement.
For example: The athlete ran round the track.

 Prepositions of time

We use in, on and at for lots of different times. Here’s a table comparing the uses:

IN ON AT

in	on	at
Months: in January / in April Seasons: in spring / in winter Years: in 1984 / in 2015 Centuries: in the 20th century Times of day: in the morning / in the evening Longer periods of time: in the past / in the 1990s / in the holidays	Days of the week: on Monday Days + parts of days: on Tuesday afternoon / on Saturday mornings Dates: on November 22nd Special days: on my birthday / on New Year’s Eve	Clock times: at 7.30 a.m. / at 5 o’clock Festivals: at Christmas / at Easter Exceptions: at night / at the weekend

Sometimes we don’t use a preposition of time, for example after next/this/last/every.

We go skateboarding every Saturday afternoon.
I’ll see you next Friday.

Mm, but I could also say: “I’ll see you on Friday.”

Oh yes, that's fine too. But we often leave out on with days of the week when we’re speaking.

I’ll see you Friday.

OK. Now, about dates ... You write “on 8th July” but how do you say that?

Good question! We say “on the eighth of July”.

OK, so I have to remember to say “on THE eighth OF July”.

Exactly.

One last question about in. Can I use it for the future, as in “I’ll do it in a minute”?

Yes, that’s very common. We use in for talking about something in the future a certain length of time from now.

She’ll be back in a moment.                                                               
We’re going away in two weeks.

And can I say, “We’re going away for two weeks”?

Yes, but the meaning is completely different.

We’re going away in two weeks.  (= we leave two weeks from now)
We’re going away for two weeks. (= our holiday will be two weeks long)

Ah, and what about “We’re going away during two weeks”?

No, you can’t say that. We use for + a length of time, to say how long something goes on for, and during + a noun / noun phrase, to say when something happens.

It snowed for three hours.
It snowed during the night.

OK, that’s a useful rule. But, hang on, I can also say “It snowed in the night”.

Yes, absolutely.

And: “I did a lot of work in the holidays” or “I did a lot of work during the holidays”?

Yes, you’ve got the hang of this.

Good, so now I’m going to study for a few hours. I’ll see you on Tuesday, in the morning, at about 10 o’clock.

See you at some time during the morning!