Present

Simple and Present

Continuous

Present Simple spelling: third person — s

In present simple, the verb changes only in third person singular (he, she, it, a person, a thing), where it gets the suffix -s or -es.

When the verb ends with consonant + y, you have to change the y to i and then add -es. Fly → flies / carry → carries / copy → copies

Enjoy → enjoys (no change, because the verb ends with vowel o + y) When the verb end with s, ss, ch, sh, x, or o, you have to add -es.

Wash → washes / pass → passes / relax → relaxes / do → does

Here are the present tense forms for two important verbs (be and have):

BE: I am; he, she, it - is; you, we, they - are.

HAVE: I, you, we, they - have; he, she, it - has

Temporary or permanent?

We use present simple when a situation is permanent or present continuous when a situation is temporary.

I work in an office. (=Permanent situation.)

I‘m working in an office. (=Temporary situation.)

I live in Edinburgh. (=Permanent situation.)

I‘m living in Edinburgh. (=Temporary situation.)

What do you do?/What are you doing? What does Erik do? (=What is his job?)

What is Erik doing? (=What is he doing now, at the moment of speaking?)

Verbs we don’t usually use in the Continuous

Some verbs are not used in the present continuous, because they indicate a state rather than an action. These verbs can be organized into several categories of stative verbs:

Mental states – think, understand, believe, doubt, know, prefer, remember, want

Emotional states– like, love, hate

Senses – see, hear, smell, taste, feel, seem, sound Possession – have, own, possess

Communication – agree, disagree, mean, promise

Other states – be, need, owe, cost, depend, matter

For example:

I understand this grammar lesson. (NOT: I am understanding this grammar lesson.)

I agree with my sister. (NOT: I am agreeing with my sister.)

You have two cats. (NOT: You are having two cats.)

The bag costs $50. (NOT: The bag is costing $50.)

**In some cases, the verbs from the stative verb list can be used present continuous, but the meaning will be slightly different. The stative verb in the simple present indicates a permanent or long-lasting state. The present continuous verb indicates a temporary action happening right now.

Smell

The pizza smells delicious! (a sense)

Julie is smelling the pizza. (an action)

Think

I think Italian is a beautiful language. (a mental state)

I am thinking about my next vacation. (an action)

Be

He is friendly. (a state of his personality)

He is being friendly. (an action that he is doing right now)