Hi everyone! I'm Arnel and welcome to today's lesson. Present Simple or Present Continuous.
Now these two tenses are very special because you can use them to speak about the present of course, but also the future and even the past. Basics. Formation. You can see here I have my present simple and present continuous.
The present simple uses the base verb, verb number one, like play, eat, smile, go. Remember that third person form. With present continuous I have my be form, I am, you are, etc. Plus that verb ing. Playing, eating, smiling, going. These are positive sentences.
What about negatives and questions? Don't worry, we'll get to that. Let's keep going.
So let's do this lesson in three parts. Present, future and past. Okay, present simple. Things that never change, like facts. My name is Arnelle.
Apples grow on trees. Chickens lay eggs. Fact, fact, fact. What other things never change?
Habits, routines, permanent situations. I always put milk in my coffee. My son has soccer club every Friday. I work as a teacher.
We do not use the present continuous for these things. So when? When do we use the present continuous? For an action happening now.
Now I am talking to you. Look at this video. I'm talking to you now. You are listening to this lesson.
I hope you are listening to this lesson. An action happening now. Or in the general present period. I'm helping my sister find a new apartment. I'm not doing that now.
Now I'm talking to you. But generally in the present, I am doing this. In some English exams, they ask you to describe a picture. Use the present continuous because you are looking at the picture now.
For example, a man and a woman are talking. They're sitting next to a window in an office building. The woman has curly brown hair.
Present continuous because they are doing these things now, and present simple has because this won't change, right? It's her hair color. Before we continue, let's look at those negatives and questions. Let's start with present simple. I have be, the king of verbs, because it is the most common verb in English.
And I have other verbs. You can see my positive sentences here to form the negative. Add not after be. Simple right?
Let's contract. I'm not a teacher. David isn't or David's not my neighbor.
They aren't or they're not. And my other verbs are here. Now we cannot just add not. We need more. Do does not plus base verb.
I do not work from home. I don't work from home. You do not sing very well. You don't sing very well.
Frankie does not know how to make cheesecake. See, even in the third person, we keep the base verb. Knows? Frankie doesn't know.
Okie dokie. The good news is questions are very similar. B plus subject. Are you a teacher? Is David your neighbor?
Am I next in line? Do, does plus subject and that base verb. Do you work from home?
Does Frankie know how to make cheesecake? Knows? Present continuous.
And this time it's pretty simple. Look at my sentence. Where does not go?
After B. We are not driving to California. We aren't or we're not. I am fixing the sink. I am not fixing the sink. I'm not.
Questions. Be plus subject and ing. Are we driving to California? Is Zach fixing the sink? Let's compare. I work in a bank.
I'm working in a bank. We have the present simple and present continuous. We know the present simple is for things that never change, permanent situations.
We know the present continuous is used for something happening now or in this general time. So it's temporary. Temporary means short-term.
The first one, this is my job. It was my job in the past. It's my job now. It will be my job in the future.
I'm working in a bank. Maybe I have a two-month contract. I'm expecting a change. You can see this temporary situation in my next example.
He is doing his master's. A. A master's is temporary. B.
He is doing it now in this period. You can see it doesn't work in the present continue. It doesn't work in the present simple. He does his masters.
That's very unnatural because a masters isn't something you do forever, even though you might feel like that. Let's look at this the other way around. Let's look at verbs that are not normally continuous. I know Tom, I like mangoes.
I don't believe in ghosts. You can see it doesn't work in the present continuous. Why? Because these are like facts.
You know someone or you don't. You like something or you don't. You believe in something or you don't. We call these verbs stative verbs. Remember, understand, agree, belong.
These are all examples of stative verbs. Stative verbs show our emotions, our thoughts. In English we do not use stative verbs in continuous tenses.
If you want more information on stative verbs, I have a video somewhere here and I'll also put it in the description below for you. Oh okay, I know there's been a lot of information so far. So let's do some complaining.
My colleague is always playing games on her phone. They are constantly arguing. You are forever telling me what to do. You can see I have the present continuous here and the adverbs. Always, constantly, forever.
Yes, you can use a present simple. My colleague always plays games on her phone. They constantly argue. You always tell me what to do.
We wouldn't say you forever tell me what to do. But if we use these three adverbs in the present continuous, we are complaining. It's a way to emphasize a complaint and it's informal.
She is always arriving on time. Is that something you complain about? Someone arriving on time? In this case, you need to use a present simple.
She always arrives on time. Use always Constantly, forever with the present continuous if you really want to complain about something. You're not just speaking about a habit or a routine.
Mini review. Use the present simple for facts, habits, routines, permanent situations, and with stative verbs. Use the present continuous for an action happening now or in this present period. temporary situations, or if you're complaining, using, always, constantly, and forever. Let's keep going.
Future, present simple, a fixed, scheduled event. What do I mean by fixed? You cannot change it.
What do I mean by scheduled? There is a schedule. What types of things have a schedule? Transportation, stores, opening and closing times, movie theaters, lessons, appointments. Our train leaves at 8 tomorrow.
I can go to the bank in the morning. It opens at 9. Our movie is at 9 20 tonight. When is your yoga class? It's at 4 this afternoon.
My doctor's appointment is in June. If the time in a conversation is clear, you don't even need to use the time phrases here. Because it's clear the present simple is for something in the future that has been scheduled.
You cannot change these times. Yes, you can change your doctor's appointment, but you cannot change a doctor's schedule. we do not use appointment with family or friends. Use the word appointment when you need a service.
A doctor's appointment, a dental appointment, an appointment with your Hairdresser. If we're speaking about family and friends, we normally use a verb. I'm meeting Sandra later. I'm meeting.
Present continuous. And later? Present continuous. Use it for a future arrangement.
What do I mean by an arrangement? You have the time. You have the date. and you have all the details organized. I'm meeting Sandra later.
Here both Sandra and I know when? Two o'clock. Where?
The cafe on Harper Street. Why? Because we want to gossip. Everything has been organized. Use that present continuous.
Even for the future. We're moving on the 5th. I have the date, the 5th.
I've already booked the the moving truck. Everything has been organized. What are you doing over Christmas? I'm spending Christmas with my parents.
Sometimes the present simple and the present continuous can be used interchangeably in the same way. I start university in September. I'm starting university in September. Present simple because this is a fixed scheduled the university decided on the time and date.
Present continuous because this is something I've arranged. I've been accepted, I have my dormitory, I have all my materials, my arrangement has been organized. Mini review again. Present simple for a fixed scheduled event.
Present continuous for an arrangement, something you have planned. Okay. Past.
Last point. Normally when we speak about the past we use narrative tenses, right? Tenses like past simple, past continuous. We went hiking.
The sun was shining and there wasn't a single gray cloud in sight. We hiked, fished, and cooked all of our meals over an open fire. But sometimes we do use the present simple. and present continuous when we're telling a story if we really want to pull the listener or the reader into the moment. Psst, Arnel, what happened yesterday?
Okay, so I walk into the office, right? I'm early, it's about 7 30. I see Carlos and Katrina sitting in the meeting room. They don't know I'm there.
They're talking and all of a sudden they start kissing like crazy. Okay, that's not a real story, but you can kind of feel that excitement, right? With my present simple and present continuous, I've tried to pull you into the moment. Don't, don't use a present simple and present continuous if you're just talking about the past or giving information. So, Can you think of any other tenses you find confusing?
I have a video here. Present perfect or present perfect continuous? I know that's a big question a lot of you have.
Let me know in the comments below. Thank you so much for watching and I can't wait to make another video for you. Thank you, bye!