If there are two tenses you absolutely have to nail in English, it’s the present simple and the present continuous. They’re the workhorses of everyday conversation — you’ll use them in literally every chat, every email, every café order, every WhatsApp message. Get them right and you sound natural; mix them up and even simple sentences start to feel a bit off.
The good news is that the rules are pretty tidy once you see them side by side. In this lesson we’ll walk through the form, the uses, the awkward exceptions (hello, stative verbs), the mistakes I hear in class every single week, and a ten-question quiz at the end so you can test yourself. Grab a coffee — let’s get into it.
Present simple — how to form it
The present simple is the easier of the two to build. For most subjects, you just use the bare verb:
- I work in Malta.
- You speak English well.
- We live near the sea.
- They study every evening.
The little trap is the third person singular — he, she, it. Here you add an -s to the verb:
- He works in Malta.
- She speaks English well.
- It rains a lot in November.
A few small spelling rules for that -s ending: verbs that finish in -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, -o take -es (watch → watches, go → goes, kiss → kisses). Verbs that end in a consonant + y change the y to -ies (study → studies, try → tries). And the irregular one everyone forgets: have → has.
For negatives, we use don’t (do not) or, in the third person, doesn’t (does not) — and the main verb goes back to its bare form, no -s:
- I don’t drink coffee.
- She doesn’t live here. (NOT doesn’t lives)
For questions, we put do or does at the front:
- Do you speak Italian?
- Does he work on Saturdays?
- Where do they live?
Present simple — when to use it
Use the present simple when you’re talking about things that are generally, regularly, or always true. Four big jobs:
- Habits and routines. I get up at seven. She goes to the gym on Mondays. We have lunch at one o’clock.
- Permanent situations. He lives in Sliema. They work for a software company. I speak three languages.
- General truths and facts. Water boils at 100°C. Malta has 300 days of sunshine a year. Cats hate water.
- Schedules and timetables (even for the future). The train leaves at 8.45. The film starts at nine. Our class finishes on Friday.
Time expressions that often go with the present simple: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every day, on Mondays, twice a week, in the morning. If a sentence has one of those, you’re almost certainly in present simple territory.
Present continuous — how to form it
The present continuous needs two pieces: the verb to be (am / is / are) plus the main verb with -ing:
- I am working. (I’m working.)
- You are studying. (You’re studying.)
- He / She / It is sleeping. (He’s sleeping.)
- We / They are eating. (We’re eating.)
For negatives, just add not: I’m not working. She isn’t listening. They aren’t coming tonight.
For questions, swap the subject and the verb to be: Are you working? Is he sleeping? What are they doing?
The -ing spelling is where learners often slip up. Three rules to remember:
- Most verbs just add -ing: play → playing, eat → eating, read → reading.
- Verbs ending in a silent e drop the e: make → making, write → writing, live → living (NOT liveing).
- Short verbs ending in consonant + vowel + consonant double the last letter: run → running, swim → swimming, sit → sitting, stop → stopping.
Present continuous — when to use it
The continuous is the tense of now — things in motion, things in progress, things that aren’t permanent. Five common uses:
- Happening right now. I’m writing this lesson. She’s making coffee. Look — it’s raining!
- Around now (this week, this month, these days), even if you’re not actually doing it at this exact second. I’m reading a great book at the moment. We’re learning the past tense this week.
- Future arrangements that are already planned and confirmed. I’m meeting Tom tomorrow at six. We’re flying to Rome on Saturday. (You’ve booked it — it’s a fixed plan.)
- Temporary situations. I’m staying with my cousin until I find a flat. She’s working from home this month.
- Complaining about repeated annoying things, usually with always, constantly, forever. He’s always losing his keys! You’re constantly checking your phone! My computer’s forever crashing.
Time expressions that pair with the continuous: now, right now, at the moment, currently, today, this week, this morning, these days.
Stative verbs — the awkward exception
Here’s the catch. Some verbs describe states rather than actions — feelings, thoughts, possessions, senses — and these usually don’t go in the continuous form, even when you’re talking about right now.
The most common ones to memorise:
- Thinking / believing: know, believe, understand, remember, mean, agree, suppose
- Feelings: like, love, hate, prefer, want, need, wish
- Senses and appearance: see, hear, seem, look (= appear), sound, taste, smell
- Possession and being: have (= own), own, belong, contain, cost
So you say “I know the answer” — not “I am knowing.” You say “She wants a coffee” — not “She is wanting.” You say “This belongs to me” — not “This is belonging to me.”
A small honest warning: a few of these verbs can go in the continuous when the meaning shifts to an action. “I’m thinking about my holiday” (= the mental activity of thinking) is fine. “I’m having lunch” (= eating, an action) is fine. But “I’m knowing” or “I’m believing” are simply wrong. When in doubt, default to the simple form for these verbs.
Common mistakes — and how to fix them
These are the slip-ups I hear in class almost every week. Recognise them and you’re halfway to fixing them.
- Forgetting the -s in the third person. “He work in Malta.” ❌ → “He works in Malta.” ✅ This is the single most common error at A1/A2 level — drill it until it feels automatic.
- “I am liking it.” ❌ Stative verb — say “I like it.” ✅ Same goes for “I’m wanting,” “I’m knowing,” “I’m understanding” — all wrong.
- Putting -ing on a routine. “I am going to the gym every Monday.” ❌ Routines need the simple: “I go to the gym every Monday.” ✅
- Putting the simple on something happening right now. “Look! It rains.” ❌ → “Look! It’s raining.” ✅
- Double auxiliary in questions. “Does she works here?” ❌ → “Does she work here?” ✅ Once you’ve got does, the main verb is bare.
- Forgetting do/does in negatives. “I not like it.” ❌ → “I don’t like it.” ✅
- Spelling -ing wrongly. “makeing,” “writeing,” “runing” ❌ → “making, writing, running.” ✅ Drop the silent e; double the final consonant in short CVC verbs.
Mini quiz — test yourself
Ten quick questions. Answers at the bottom — no peeking!
- Choose: “She ___ to work by bus every day.” (a) go (b) goes (c) is going
- Choose: “Be quiet — the baby ___.” (a) sleeps (b) is sleeping (c) sleep
- Make negative: “He drinks tea.”
- Make a question: “They live in Valletta.”
- Correct or wrong: “I am knowing the answer.”
- Spell the -ing form of swim, write, and study.
- Choose: “Water ___ at 100°C.” (a) boils (b) is boiling
- Choose: “I can’t talk now — I ___ dinner.” (a) cook (b) am cooking
- Fix this: “Does she works on Saturdays?”
- Choose: “We ___ to Rome next weekend — the flights are booked.” (a) fly (b) are flying
Answers: 1 — b (routine, present simple); 2 — b (right now); 3 — “He doesn’t drink tea”; 4 — “Do they live in Valletta?”; 5 — wrong (stative verb), should be “I know the answer”; 6 — swimming, writing, studying; 7 — a (general truth); 8 — b (happening now); 9 — “Does she work on Saturdays?” (no -s after does); 10 — b (fixed future arrangement).
How did you do? If you got 8+, your present tenses are in great shape. If you got fewer, don’t sweat it — these are exactly the structures that lock in fastest when you’re using them in real conversations all day, not just on a worksheet.
That’s where studying in Malta comes in. Every café order, every classroom discussion, every chat with a host family is another rep of the present simple and continuous in action. Get a quote for an English course in Malta and start turning these rules into real, fluent conversation.
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