Present: simple or progressive?

It’s not easy to teach the difference between these two tenses, so try this: in the following pairs, which sentence would be more natural to an English speaker?

1.
a. I he is never on time.
b. He’s never being on time.

2.
a. He always tells lies. (lies: mensonges)
b. He’s always telling lies.

3.
a. I’m dirty so I go for a shower.
b. I’m dirty so I’m going for a shower.

4.
a. Slow down! You drive too fast!
b. Slow down! You’re driving too fast!

5.
a. Slow down! I don’t understand!
b. slow down! I’m not understanding you!

6.
a. Don’t listen to him, he’s stupid
b. Don’t listen to him, he’s being stupid

7.
a. That’s the production manager. He supervises the workforce.
b. That’s the production manager. He is supervising the workforce.

8.
a. Look at John – he does nothing!
b. Look at John – he’s doing nothing!

Answers:

1. a (in this case, ‘be’ is a state verb, and doesn’t indicate a specific action in progress)
2. a or b (both are correct. Use (b) if you want to show that he is lying at this present time)
3. b (the progressive is used to indicate intention to do something soon)
4. b (the person speaking is scared at this present time!)
5. a (‘understand’ indicates a state, it isn’t really an action in progress)
6. a or b ((a) suggest that is stupid all the time, (b) that he is acting in a stupid when at this present time)
7. a (talking about his responsibilities, not his current activity)
8. b (the context ‘look at John’ shows that it’s the present time – in progress)

Categories: grammaire   |   Tags: présent progressif, présent simple  |  1 Comment »

1 comment