Present simple/continuous for rebuking

[ROFTOK]

I know that the present simple fits the purpose of rebuking well.

You sit there and tell me not to spend any money while you just spent 300 dollars!

Would it be also OK to use the present continuous for this purpose? Or does it sound softer?

You are sitting there and telling me not to spend any money while you just spent 300 dollars!

 

[5jj]

It is the situation and the tone of voice of the speaker, not the tense of the verb, that tells us this is a rebuke.

 

[ROFTOK]

But Present Simple is not usually used with on-going actions.

 

[Tarheel]

But present simple is not usually used with on-going actions.

Maybe it isn't, but I find the first one a bit more natural.

 

[ROFTOK]

Maybe it isn't, but I find the first one a bit more natural.

At least for beginners, there is no maybe, it's a gospel truth.

 

[5jj]

But Present Simple is not usually used with on-going actions.

I live (present simple) in the Czech Republic.

I have lived there for over 20 years - That's pretty on-going.

 

[5jj]

At least for beginners, there is no maybe, it's a gospel truth.

It isn't.

 

[ROFTOK]

It isn't.

What is then a gospel truth for them? All beginners are exposed to the idea that the present simple tells about habitual actions and the present continuous about on-going. But you can prove wrong with some substantiated arguments.

 

[ROFTOK]

I live (present simple) in the Czech Republic.

I have lived there for over 20 years - That's pretty on-going.

What does the present perfect have to do with the difference between the present simple and the present continuous?

 

[5jj]

I used the present perfect sentence for background.

 

[5jj]

What is then a gospel truth for them? All beginners are exposed to the idea that the present simple tells about habitual actions and the present continuous about on-going. But you can prove wrong with some substantiated arguments.

I don't know what you mean by 'gospel truth'. The closest we have to a universal truth about the present continuous is that it aways has some connection with the idea of limited duration - see this article. The present simple is more satisfactorily defined by what it us not. See this article.

 

[ROFTOK]

gospel truth

Definition, Synonyms, Translations of gospel truth by The Free Dictionary

www.thefreedictionary.com

 

[5jj]

I don't know what you meant by 'gospel truth' in post #8.