Today's lesson comes from Deborah Jane Cairns, EC Cape Town English language school:
In present tense sentences and present perfect tenses we use has with the third person singular:
"This shirt costs $50."
"This shirt is costing $50."
Which is correct? Why?
The first sentence - "This shirt costs $50" - is correct because the price of the shirt is fixed; it's a fixed state and therefore we use a state verb, costs.
'They love it' or 'They are loving it'?
When a verb describes a state and not an action we do not use the continuous tense. For example, 'play' is an action so we can say 'playing' whereas 'be' is a fixed state which does not change: 'To be, or not to be'.
New Update: EC offers various English courses, including online English speaking courses
'I surf / I am surfing.'
What's the difference between the Present Simple / Present Continuous and how to use them.
