Compare Present Continuous and Present Simple

Well hello my dear friends! How are you today?

Приветствую Вас дорогие друзья! Как у Вас дела?

Today we continue to talk about English tenses. And again we take Present Continuous versus Present Simple. In some cases they seem to be equal to use but we can stress out tiny distinctions among them.

Сегодня мы продолжаем говорить о временах английского языка. И снова мы сопоставляем Present Continuous и Present Simple. В некоторых ситуациях казалось бы мы можем использовать оба времени, но выделяются небольшие различия.

We use Present Continuous when we talk about an action that has started but not finished yet.

Мы используем Present Continuous, когда говорим о действии, которое началось и не завершилось в данный момент.

Ex.

I'm finishing my lunch at the moment.

But some verbs are not normally used in Present Continuous.

Но некоторые глаголы не используются в Present Continuous.

Ex.

We do not say "I am knowing...". We say "I know..."

Here is the list of these verbs:

1) to like;

2) to want;

3) to need;

4) to prefer;

5) to know;

6) to realize;

7) to suppose;

8) to mean;

9) to understand;

10) to believe;

11) to remember;

12) to belong;

13) to fit;

14) to contain;

15) to consist.

Ex.

I know where I wanna go now.

I mean you can come with somebody.

The verb 'to think' in the meaning "to believe" or "to have an opinion" is used in Present Simple.

Глагол 'to think', в значении верить или иметь мнение, используется в Present Simple.

Ex.

What do you think about this movie?

The verb 'to think' in the meaning "to consider" is used in Present Continuous.

Глагол 'to think', в значении рассматривать, используется в Present Continuous.

Ex.

I'm thinking of breaking up with her.

The verbs 'to see, to hear, to smell, to taste' are used in Present Simple.

Глаголы 'to see, to hear, to smell, to taste' используются в Present Simple.

Ex.

Oh, now I see her coming to us.