Is there a difference between:
"Not always I understand what she is saying".(present continuous).
Vs.
"Not always I understand what she says". (present simple)
I would tend to use the present simple structure, but many times I see people who use the present continuous, and that caused me to ponder maybe I'm wrong with my assumption.
N.b. please, note the words "Not always" at the beginning of the sentence. Without them the diffrence between present simple & continuous is understood well to me. My qiestion is about sentences starting with words such as, often, sometimes always etc.
Best Answer
Here are explanations of simplified versions of the two statements
This is present continuous, which generally refers to something that's happening right now. In this case, it means that you don't understand what she is saying right now
This is present simple. It can be used in various ways: in this case, I would take it to refer to something that is always true. Whenever she speaks, you don't understand what she says.
Looking at your original sentences, the construction not always I is not grammatical. When you negate something, you put the word not after an auxiliary verb
If there isn't an auxiliary verb, you add do:
So, to make your sentences grammatical, you would say
These sentences are the same as my simplified examples above, but with the word always added.
In the second sentence, adding always is grammatical and natural: whenever you listen to her, sometimes you understand and sometimes you don't.
For the first sentence, you will hear people saying this, but it would not be correct in formal written English, because always clashes with the right now meaning of the present continuous.