Present Simple and Present Continuous Tenses 5 Levels of Difficulty
Hi, I’m Liam.
Welcome to Oxford Online English!
In this lesson, you can learn about using
the present simple and present continuous
verb forms.
You’ll see many different ways to use these
verb tenses, from basic meanings to more advanced
uses.
A question for you: do you want to watch this
video with subtitles?
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Here’s how this lesson works.
There are five levels.
Each level is more difficult than the previous
one.
Level one is beginner.
Levels two to four are intermediate.
Level five is high intermediate to advanced.
If you’re not a beginner, start at level
two!
At each level, you can see what you need to
focus on if you have difficulties.
Ready?
Let’s start!
You’ll see five sentences which use the
present simple or present continuous.
You need to complete each sentence with one
word.
The verb you need to use is given at the end
of the sentence.
Here are your sentences.
Pause the video and think about your answers.
Ready?
Let’s look.
What do you need to know here?
You need to know how to form the present simple
and present continuous.
For example, you need to know rules like:
add ‘s’ to the verb in the present simple
after ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’.
You need to know that you make the present
continuous with the verb ‘be’ plus an
-ing verb.
You should also know how to make negatives
and questions with these two tenses.
Easy?
Maybe, but even advanced English learners
sometimes make mistakes with these points.
Practise them carefully so you don’t form
bad habits!
In this section, you need to choose the correct
form in each sentence.
Look at your questions.
Pause the video and find your answers.
Did you do it?
Let’s check.
Here, you need to think about the meaning
of these two verb forms.
Use the present simple for habits or things
you do regularly, like in sentence one.
Use the present continuous for things which
are happening right now, like in sentence
two.
You also use the present continuous for things
which are unfinished, like in sentence three.
For facts and things which are generally true,
use the present simple, like in sentence four.
If you’re describing a photo or a picture,
and want to say what’s happening, use the
present continuous, like in sentence five.
If you understand these ideas, you’ll be
able to use the present simple and the present
continuous in many everyday sentences.
However, there are many more things you need
to know to use these verb forms well.
Here, we have a different challenge for you.
Some of these sentences are correct; some
are incorrect.
Your job is to find the correct sentences,
and correct the mistakes in the others.
Pause the video and do it now.
What do you think?
How many correct sentences do you think there
are?
Could you correct the mistakes in the others?
Let’s look together.
Sentences two and five are correct; the others
all have mistakes.
Now, you can see the mistakes, and the corrections.
Can you explain the problems with sentences
one, three and four?
Why are they wrong?
Verbs of sensing, like ‘smell’, ‘see’
or ‘hear’ are not generally used in the
present continuous.
In sentence one, even though you’re talking
about something which is just true now, you
use the present simple because you’re using
a verb of sensing – ‘smell’.
Sentence two is correct.
Use the present continuous to talk about arrangements
in the future.
This is common for talking about social plans.
You can also use the present simple to talk
about the future, like in sentence three.
Do you know why you use the present simple
here?
Use the present simple to talk about future
events which follow a timetable.
This includes things like trains, planes,
meetings, appointments and lessons.
Verbs of thinking or speaking, like ‘promise’,
aren’t generally used in the present continuous.
Can you think of other verbs like this?
There are many, but ‘know’, ‘realise’,
‘remember’, ‘admit’ and ‘state’
are almost always used in the present simple,
even if you’re talking about something which
is happening now.
In general, you can divide verbs into two
types: action verbs and state verbs.
Action verbs, like ‘run’, ‘do’ or
‘cook’, can be either simple or continuous.
State verbs, like ‘be’, ‘know’ or
‘love’, cannot normally be used in the
present continuous.
There are exceptions to this, but it’s a
useful general rule to remember.
Finally, in sentence five, can you explain
why you need to use the present continuous?
Use the present continuous to describe changing
situations, or to talk about trends.
This is useful if you need to talk about statistics;
for example ‘sales are falling by an average
of 2% annually.’
There’s a lot of information in this video.
Remember that you can always review a section
if you need to!
Or, take a break and come back later.
Now, let’s move on to level four.
Level four is a little different again.
Look at your sentences.
This time, you have two jobs.
First, are both forms possible?
In some sentences, you can use either the
present simple or the continuous.
In at least one sentence, you can’t use
both.
Where can you – or can’t you – use both
forms?
Secondly, where you can use both forms,
is there a difference in meaning?
If so, can you explain it?
Pause the video and think about these questions
now.
Take your time!
Ready?
Let’s check.
In sentence one, both forms are possible.
Using the present simple suggests that this
is a permanent situation.
She works there because this is her long-term
job, and she’ll probably continue to work
there.
Using the present continuous suggests that
this is something temporary.
She’s working there for a short time, and
she’ll probably be working somewhere else
soon.
In sentence two, both forms are also possible.
Using the present continuous expresses that
you find this habit annoying or strange.
You can do this with adverbs like ‘always’
or ‘constantly’.
The adverb is necessary!
You can only use the present continuous
to talk about a habit if you use an adverb,
like ‘always’.
Using the present simple here is neutral.
It doesn’t add any extra meaning.
It just expresses that he has this habit.
In sentence three, using the continuous expresses
that you’re just starting to understand
this idea.
In level three, you saw that verbs of thinking,
like ‘realise’, aren’t generally used
in the present continuous.
That’s true, but there’s an important
exception.
Use the present continuous to express feelings
which you are just starting to be aware of.
When a feeling is coming to you, and you’re
still processing your thoughts, you can use
the present continuous to talk about it.
Here, it means that you’ve just started
to understand that he’s been lying to you,
or you’ve recently found out that he’s
dishonest.
You’re still processing those thoughts.
Using the present simple suggests that this
is not a new feeling.
It suggests that you understood that you were
wrong to trust him some time ago.
Sentence four is similar to sentence one.
Both forms are possible; using the present
simple suggests that this is a more permanent
situation, while using the present continuous
suggests something more temporary.
For example, if they’ve only just started
playing tennis, and they’re both really
lazy and you’re sure they’ll give up soon,
then you’d probably use the continuous here.
But, if they’ve been playing tennis on Fridays
for years, and you know they’re both really
enthusiastic about it and are likely to continue
for a long time, then you’d use the present
simple.
Sentence five is different.
Why?
Because there isn’t a difference in meaning.
There’s another point: while it’s possible
to say ‘My English gets better year after
year,’ using the continuous sounds better.
You’re talking about a changing situation
– like you saw in level three – and it’s
more common to use the continuous in this
case.
Up to now, you’ve seen many different ways
to use the present simple and continuous.
Are you ready for the hardest challenge?
Here are your sentences.
Your task is simple: put the verbs into either
the present simple or the present continuous.
You know what to do!
Pause the video and find your answers.
Ready?
Let’s see how you did.
Did you get them all right?
If so, great job!
If not, don’t worry.
These sentences test some more difficult and
specialised uses of the present simple and
continuous.
In sentence one, do you know why you use the
present simple?
A question: what is this sentence?
Who’s saying it?
This sentence sounds like live commentary
on a football match.
When commenting on live events, it’s common
to use the present simple, even for things
which are happening right now, when you would
usually expect to hear the continuous.
In sentence two, did you think it might be
correct to use the continuous?
The first part of the sentence – ‘he never
listens’ – sounds like an annoying habit.
You saw in level four that you can use the
continuous to talk about strange or annoying
habits.
But, you can’t use it here.
Why not?
It’s because you can only use the present
continuous in this way with specific adverbs
– ‘always’ is the most common – and
you can’t do this with ‘never’.
In sentence three, you can use present tenses
to tell a story, especially in informal conversation.
In most cases, you’d use past tenses to
tell a story, but you can also move the past
tenses into the present: past continuous becomes
present continuous, past simple becomes present
simple, and so on.
This can make your story sound more vivid,
as if it’s taking place now.
For sentence four, where do you think this
sentence comes from?
Notice the capital letters, and the fact that
it doesn’t have a full stop at the end.
It’s a newspaper headline.
Headlines are written in a specific style,
and often use the present simple to talk about
events in the recent past.
What about sentence five?
Can you explain what’s going on here?
The key here is that ‘see’ has different
meanings.
The first ‘see’ means ‘understand’.
This is a state verb, so it can’t be continuous.
The second ‘see’ means ‘meet’ or ‘have
a relationship with’.
It’s an action verb, so it can be continuous.
There are other verbs like this, where there
are multiple meanings, some of which are actions,
and some of which are states.
Other common verbs like this are ‘have’,
‘think’, ‘expect’ or ‘look’.
How did you do on this lesson?
Which points did you find most difficult or
confusing?
Let us know how you did in the comments, and
what was most difficult for you!
Thanks for watching!
See you next time!