Simple present

(a) Water consists of hydrogen andThe simple present says that

oxygen. something was true in the past, is
(b) The average person breathes true in the present, and will be true in
21,600 times a day. the future.
(c) The world is round. It expresses general statements of
fact and timeless truths.
(d) I study for two hours every The simple present is used to
night. express habitual or everyday
(e) I get up at seven every activities.
morning. We can use time expressions
(f) He always eats a sandwich for (every day, every night, every
lunch. morning) or frequency adverbs
(always, often, frequently,
sometimes, occasionally, seldom,
rarely, hardly ever, never).

Present progressive
(g) John is sleeping right now. The present progressive expresses
(h) I need an umbrella because it is
an activity that is in progress at the
raining. moment of speaking. It is a
(i) The students are sitting at their
temporary activity that began in the
desks right now. past, is continuing at present, and will
probably end at some point in the
future.
(j) I am taking five course this Often the activity is of a general
semester. nature: something generally in
(k) John is trying to improve his progress. We use time expressions
work habits. such as: at the moment, this
(l) Susan is writing another book morning/afternoon/week/month/year,
this year. now, tonight and today.
Note: The sentence (l) means that
writing a book is a general activity
Susan is engaged in at present, but it
does not mean that at the moment of
speaking she is sitting at her desk
with pen in hand.