Present tenses in English
This page will help you if you can't remember the difference between the Present Continuous tense ("I am doing"), and the Present Simple tense ("I do").
Which tense you use depends on how you see the state or action. If you use the Present Simple ("I do"), you think something is permanent. This means we often use the Present Simple to talk about general and scientific facts, our routines or habits, to give definitions and to describe things.
The Present Continuous ("I am doing") means the action is happening now (or around now), is unfinished, or temporary. We use it to talk about trends and changes, or about situations happening now that are different from normal.
"I live in London." (This is my home.)
"I am living with my parents." (A temporary situation until I buy my own house.)
"Hot air rises." (A scientific fact.)
"House prices are rising." (A trend happening now.)
"I drive to work every day." (My routine or habit.)
"I am walking to work this week." (My car is being repaired.)
"At work I write letters to customers." (My job routine.)
"I'm writing a difficult letter." (This is what I am doing right now and I haven't finished yet.)
So the most important rule is that you use the Present Simple ("I do") for permanent states and the Present Continuous ("I am doing") for changes and trends.
Some verbs cannot be used in the Present Continuous tense. This is because they already suggest permanence.
These include:
Verbs of possession – own, have, belong. (Although you can say "I am having a party", it doesn't mean you own the party, it means you are hosting a party.)
Verbs of the mind – believe, know, think, forget.
Verbs of emotion – love, hate, detest.
Verbs of the senses – see, hear, smell, taste. ("I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow" means I am going to visit the doctor, but "I see the doctor" means "the doctor is standing in front of me".)
Verbs of geographical location – lie. ("London lies on the River Thames".)
I am confused by the list of verbs that cannot be used with the present continuous eg Where is Anna? She is seeing her son.You can use "see" in the continuous form, but it doesn't mean to physically see someone, but that you have an appointment. There's an example on the page: "I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow".I am thinking of going to visit her tomorrow. Yes, you can also use "think" in the continuous form, but it suggests a mental activity, rather than an opinion.I'm forgetting about the work I've still got to do. No: you either have forgotten, or you have remembered. You can't use "forget" in a continuous form.They are hating every minute of this interview. This is also OK, but quite a new use of the verb "hate". To me it seems that it's used to describe a continuous feeling, rather than a permanent opinion. A similar use is "I'm loving it", the McDonald slogan.While we are lying on the beach, we are smelling the sea and we are tasting the salt in the air. You can use smell / taste (and other sense verbs) if they are an activity. But in your example above, they seem more like abilities to me. When you are at the seaside, you can taste the salt in the air. It's not as if you go around with your tongue out trying to taste the salt.Thanks in anticipation.
I was reading a book and I came across the following structure. "I am hopping.You can hopping."The second sentence sounds strange,doesn't it ?Because I have heard that after modals like "can" we cannot use ing-forms directly.Correct. After modals, use the infinitive without "to".
Is it correct to use: I am study English. I found this a little strange, but someone told me that it is grammatically right.
Denis ยป No, it's incorrect. It should be either "I study" or "I'm studying".
please tell me about the exceptions of adding s of the third person singular and give me example of some verbs
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