Present Simple/Continuous

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uniopp

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I am trying to understand the use of the following words and why (as my textbook says) they are usually used in the tense indicated in brackets (PS = present simple and/or PC = present continuous)

usually (PS)
often (PS)
currently (PS/PC)
this year (PC)
nowadays (PC)
at the moment (PS/PC)
every day (PS)
once a month (PS)
these days (PS/PC)
now (PC)

Can someone give me two example sentences for each word using the correct tense and also incorrect tense (or both correct sentences if they can be used in both tenses) so I can see the difference.
I just can’t seem to understand it. Please try to use the same basic sentence and only change the examples I have given above where possible.

Any addition information would also be welcomed (e.g. Why are “usually”, “often”, “every day” and “once a month” usually used with present simple? Why are “this year”, “nowadays” and “now” usually used with present continuous? Why are “currently, “at the moment” and “these days” usually used with both present simple and present continuous”.)
Is there a rule or an easy explanation for each group of words?

Thank you.
 

Raymott

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I am trying to understand the use of the following words and why (as my textbook says) they are usually used in the tense indicated in brackets (PS = present simple and/or PC = present continuous)

usually (PS)
often (PS)
currently (PS/PC)
this year (PC)
nowadays (PC)
at the moment (PS/PC)
every day (PS)
once a month (PS)
these days (PS/PC)
now (PC)

Can someone give me two example sentences for each word using the correct tense and also incorrect tense (or both correct sentences if they can be used in both tenses) so I can see the difference.
I just can’t seem to understand it. Please try to use the same basic sentence and only change the examples I have given above where possible.

Any addition information would also be welcomed (e.g. Why are “usually”, “often”, “every day” and “once a month” usually used with present simple? Why are “this year”, “nowadays” and “now” usually used with present continuous? Why are “currently, “at the moment” and “these days” usually used with both present simple and present continuous”.)
Is there a rule or an easy explanation for each group of words?

Thank you.
These are all adverbs/adverbial phrases.
I'll answer the first and last one, which might give you a clue.

usually (PS)
We say, "I usually read the newspaper every day". (PS)
We don't say, "I am usually reading the newspaper everyday." (PC)
Would you agree so far?

now (PC)

We say, "I am reading the newspaper now" (PC)
We don't say, "I read the newspaper now". (PS)
Would you still agree?

Have you actually tried using these adverbs in the two sentences and thinking about how they sound, and what they mean?
(Note, I'm assuming that your profile is correct, and that you're a native English speaker).
Write again if you're still having trouble.
 

uniopp

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Thanks for your help. I have taken your advise and written out all my example adverbs below but the ones with ???? don't seem right to me.

usually (PS)
We say, "I usually read the newspaper every day". (PS)
We don't say, "I am usually reading the newspaper everyday." (PC)


often (PS)
We say, "I often read the newspaper". (PS)
We don't say, "I am often reading the newspaper." (PC)


every day (PS)
We say, "I read the newspaper every day". (PS)
We don't say, "I am reading the newspaper every day." (PC)

once a month (PS)
We say, "I read the newspaper once a month". (PS)
We don't say, "I am reading the newspaper once a month." (PC)


this year (PC)
We say, "I am reading the newspaper this year" (PC) ?????
We don't say, "I read the newspaper this year". (PS)

nowadays (PC)
We say, "I am reading the newspaper nowadays" (PC) ?????
We don't say, "I read the newspaper nowadays". (PS)

now (PC)

We say, "I am reading the newspaper now" (PC)
We don't say, "I read the newspaper now". (PS)

currently (PS/PC)
We say, "I currently read the newspaper". (PS) ????
We also say, "I am currently reading the newspaper" (PC)


at the moment (PS/PC)
We say, "I read the newspaper at the moment". (PS) ?????
We also say, "I am reading the newspaper at the moment" (PC)



these days (PS/PC)
We say, "I read the newspaper these days". (PS) ?????
We also say, "I am reading the newspaper these days" (PC) ?????




(Note, I'm assuming that your profile is correct, and that you're a native English speaker).
Write again if you're still having trouble.

My profile was backwards and I have corrected it. I'm from Japan.
 

Raymott

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Thanks for your help. I have taken your advise and written out all my example adverbs below but the ones with ???? don't seem right to me.

You've made some good points with your examples. And I've reclassified the first two. But sometimes your examples don't fit simply because the time period doesn't fit "read/reading the newspaper". Just because an adverb is labelled PC or PS doesn't mean you can use it in just any sentence in PC or PS. It still has to make sense.

this year (PC/PS)
We say, "I am reading the newspaper this year" (PC) ?????
We don't say, "I read the newspaper this year". (PS)
Both of the above are bad examples since reading the newspaper is not something a person does on a yearly basis.
However, "this year" can be used with either tense:
"I'm going to college this year."
"I go to college this year." (This generally means, "I'm going to go to college this year." So, this is more common in PC.


nowadays (PC/PS)
We say, "I am reading the newspaper nowadays" (PC) ?????
We don't say, "I read the newspaper nowadays". (PS)
Again, "reading the newspaper" is not a good sentence for the time period of the adverb.
"I am working at home nowadays." OK
"I work at home nowadays." OK

currently (PS/PC)

We say, "I currently read the newspaper". (PS) ???? Yes, not good.
We also say, "I am currently reading the newspaper" (PC) OK
"I currently work at Toyota." (PS) OK

at the moment (PS/PC)
We say, "I read the newspaper at the moment". (PS) ????? Not good.
We also say, "I am reading the newspaper at the moment" (PC)
"I work at Toyota at the moment." (PS) OK
This is possibly a bit confusing. "At the moment" generally means "right now". But it can be used for a longer period of time, as in my Toyota example.
A: What job do you do?
B: Well, I trained as a teacher, but at the moment I'm driving/I drive taxis.

these days (PS/PC)
We say, "I read the newspaper these days". (PS) ????? Yes this is OK.
"I never used to know what was going on in the world, but these days I read the newspaper."
We also say, "I am reading the newspaper these days" (PC) ????? Yes this is OK (as a variant of the above). Note that "newspapers" makes more sense though.
My teacher told me I need more general knowledge, so these days I'm reading the newspapers."


My profile was backwards and I have corrected it. I'm from Japan.
Ah, that makes more sense then. Is it clear now?

R.
 

uniopp

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Thank you very much !!!
I think I can understand it now.
 
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