1068: Simple Present versus Present Continuous Nov 11, 2017

There are many ways in which the present tense is used as has already been explained on Word Facts, but it is worth revisiting the differences between present continuous and simple present. Grammatically they very clearly distinct: the present continuous takes a form of 'to be' and then a participial with '-ing', such as 'He is driving' whereas the simple present conjugates the verb itself, such as "he drives". Both, however, can indicate that a the action is coinciding with the time of the speech-act, and can also indicate that the action is occurring habitually, so while one form maybe tends to mean that the action and speech-act will be simultaneous, there is no certainty. In African American English however, the 'habitual be' only means that the action is ongoing, i.e. "he be working" or "she be in college" implies merely that the subject is employed or attending school, even if that subject (contextually) were on a vacation.