Study materials
Picture two lines at a party. The first: "What do you do?" The second: "What are you doing?" One word apart, and they ask about completely different things.
The first one means "what is your job", and the answer is a profession. The second means "what are you up to right now", and the answer explains why you are standing by the fridge.
What do you do? I work in a bank.
What are you doing? I'm looking for the ice.
In general, or right now
The whole topic rests on one question you ask yourself: is this true always, or is it happening this minute?
The Present Simple is for what is true in general: habits, schedules, facts. The form is the verb itself, and only he, she and it add an s.
I drink coffee every morning.
She drinks coffee every morning.
The Present Continuous is for what is going on right now. The form is am, is or are plus the verb with ing.
I'm drinking tea for a change.
She's waiting outside.
Words that give the tense away
There is almost always a word in the sentence that settles the form before you have finished thinking.
| Present Simple | Present Continuous |
|---|---|
| usually, often, always, never | now, right now, at the moment |
| every day, on Mondays, twice a week | today, this week, currently |
He usually takes the bus.
He's taking a taxi today.
Temporary goes in the Continuous too
The Continuous covers more than this exact second: it also covers what runs for a while and will end soon. Compare:
She lives in Lviv.
She's staying with friends this week.
The same split works for plans. An arrangement between people goes in the Continuous; a timetable none of us can change stays in the Simple.
We're meeting Sam tomorrow.
The train leaves at seven.
Verbs that never take the Continuous
Some verbs describe a state rather than an action: you are not doing it, you are in it. Those stay in the Simple even when you mean this very minute.
know, understand, want, need, like, love, hate, remember, believe
I understand now.
I want a coffee.
A few verbs do both, with different meanings. Compare a quality with an action:
The soup tastes good.
The chef is tasting the soup.
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is putting a state verb in the Continuous.
I am understanding now. → I understand now.
The second is losing the s in the third person.
She drink coffee every morning. → She drinks coffee every morning.
The third is dropping am, is or are before the ing.
I working from home today. → I'm working from home today.
All three are caught by one question. Is this true in general, or is it going on right now? The answer hands you the form.
Try it right now
Say one sentence in English about what you do every day, and one about what you are doing this minute.
Then swap the tenses and listen to how the meaning changes. That pair is the whole topic.