I teach English. Recently, as I was getting prepared for one of my classes, I came across an exercise in a coursebook that was pretty confusing.
The exercise gives students a list of time expressions (like: now, nowadays, this year, now, usually, etc.). The students must decide which of the given time expressions should be used with the present simple or with the present continues or with the both. The exercise seems to be pretty easy, but some of the answers that I found in the teachers book key got me confused and I can`t wrap my head around them.
So the key in the teacher`s book says:
currently – Present Continuous and Present Simple
at the moment – Present Continuous and Present Simple
It kind of contradicts everything I`ve learned about the present simple.
How can "at the moment" and "currently" be used with this tense, as they express the idea of something temporary?
EDIT
I`m afraid most of the examples that you gave have no explanation attached to them, or completely miss the point of my question.
Let`s start from these:
He needs your help at the moment.
As we all know, the verb "need" cannot be used in the continuous form as it belongs to "non-progressive" group of verbs. It's simply a verb that doesn't take continuous form, even when used in the "present continuous" context.
Adam currently lives in London.
Ok, this example looks interesting, but no explanation is given to what exactly "currently" means here. Usually "currently" is typically used with the present continuous as it suggests an ongoing action or process (i.e. "I`m currently working on this very interesting project) Please, tell me why currently is used with a sentence describing a permanent state.
I don't have any money at the moment.
-The verb "to have" when used in meaning "to possess", doesn't change its form to progressive, even when used in the present continues tense context.
So, this sentence doesn't really touch my point, as it presents a very typical, continuous context.
I currently work in a computer company.
Again, why use "currently" if the sentence refers to a general state.
Please, when giving further examples, don't use "non-progressive" verbs, or special verbs like have/be as they don't take continuous form.
Best Answer
The time frames "currently" and "at the moment" can refer to a temporary situation, but they can also refer to a situation or action that might continue into the future.
Of the two, I would say that "at the moment" most often refers to a transient or ephemeral action/state, and yet, it most often takes present continuous.
At the moment, I'm thinking.
Who robbed the bank?
But in some cases (with non-stative verbs) it simply cannot take simple present:
"Currently", on the other hand, most often applies to actions or states that are continuing, and might continue indefinitely: :
yet it can reasonably take simple present:
So, all I can say is that your prior notions about simple present vs. present progressive were much too constrained.
By the way, for what it's worth: "currently" extends a litlle into the past, whereas "at the moment" doesn't.
And, as you well know, one can say "I am going to school tomorrow." (But that's a different kettle of fish. Or maybe a horse of a different color. Or, more likely, a fish of a different color—namely, a red herring.)