As most of you know, in English there are 2 ways of speaking in the present. We have one way of describing what we are doing right now, and we have another way of describing what we do in general.
For example:
“I am writing this post right now.” - OR - “I write posts every week.”
So, when it comes to talking about where we live, it seems like both options should be correct, right? On the one hand, we can think about living in Tel-Aviv as something you are doing right now, but on the other hand we can also think about it as something that is true about you in general. It seems like both options should be correct, right?
Actually, only one of the options is correct. You should only use the general option: “I live in Tel-Aviv”.
However, there is one exception…
Before I explain further, let’s just quickly review how we use the “ing” structure. Most commonly, we use it describe what we are doing right now. For example, “I am drinking coffee right now, and writing this post.”
But there are other ways to use the “ing” structure besides talking about what we are doing now, and one of them is to talk about something TEMPORARY.
For example:
“For the next 2 weeks, I am babysitting my nephew every day from 6:00-8:00pm.”
“My daughter is working at a camp for the summer.”
In these examples, we are talking about temporary situations, and when we talk about temporary situations, we use “ing”.
Therefore, if I live in Jerusalem right now, but I only plan on staying there temporarily, then I would say it with “ing”.
For example: “I am living in Jerusalem these days.”
Whereas, if you live in Tel-Aviv, (or Jerusalem, or Haifa, or wherever), and you have no immediate plans to move, then you should say it in the general way: “I live in Tel-Aviv.”
As for me, I would say this about myself:
“I am living in Jerusalem these days, but I plan on moving to Tel-Aviv in the near future. So hopefully, I will soon be able to say: “I live in Tel-Aviv.”
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I hope today’s post has been helpful. Let us know…
And join us next week for more helpful tips on Mistake-free Mondays.
