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present progressive and present simple

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."
 â€• Buddhist saying
  
“The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.” 
― Thich Nhat Hanh (Buddhist monk)
 
 
There are two main present tenses in English (most languages have only one).

* We use the present simple tense when we want to talk about fixed habits or routines – things that don’t change.

* We use the present continuous (also called the present progressive) to talk about actions which are happening at the present moment, but will soon finish. Read this to better understand the present tenses.


Let's look at some examples:
 
"I play tennis" is in the present simple and
"I am playing tennis" is in the present continuous/ progressive.

So, "I play tennis" ((present simple) tells us that playing tennis is something the speaker often or always does. It is part of a routine or habit. We can call this a permanent situation. Like "I am a teacher". But, "I am playing tennis" tells us that the speaker is playing tennis right now. Soon the game will be over. Like "I am teaching". We call this a temporary situation. 

A little friendly reminder ... don't forget to add the s (or es) in the third person present simple! 
Examples: he dances, she succeeds, it smells. 
full-length-portrait-concentrated-bearde
BAD JOKE WARNING 

I don't date tennis players ... love means nothing to them.
You can play quiet tennis. It's just like regular tennis but without the racket!
 
Now answer this nice little quiz:

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