Present Simple vs Present Continuous

Estudia esta comparativa entre el Present Simple y el Present Continuous:

Diferencias en su forma:

Simple Present	Present Continuous
Base form (3rd person singular: infinitive + 's') I speak you speak he / she / it speaks we speak they speak	form of 'be' and verb + ing I am speaking you are speaking he / she / it is speaking we are speaking they are speaking
Exceptions
Exceptions when adding 's' : After o, ch, sh or s, add es. Example: do - he does; wash - she washes After a consonant, the final consonant y becomes ie. (but: not after a vowel) Example: worry - he worries but: play - he plays	Exceptions when adding 'ing' : Silent e is dropped. (but: does not apply for -ee) Example: come - coming but: agree - agreeing After a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled. Example: sit – sitting, put – putting Final ie becomes y. Example: lie - lying

Diferencias en su uso:

Simple Present	Present Progressive
in general (often, never) Colin plays football every Tuesday. present actions happening one after another First Colin plays football, then he watches TV.	right now Look! Colin is playing football now. also for several actions happening at the same time Colin is playing football and Anne is watching.
Signal words
always every ... often normally usually sometimes seldom never first then	at the moment at this moment today now right now Listen! Look!

Las Signal Words hacen referencia al tiempo al que se realiza la acción. Utilízalas para decidir si utilizar el Present Simple o el Present Continuous.

Aquí tienes más información y ejercicios para diferenciar entre Present Simple y el Present Continuous.

• http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/simpre-prepro 
• http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html