The two sentences is not working and does not ‘work’ seem highly similar. It’s easy to get confused by these two sentences if you don’t know the difference between them. Let’s take a look at these examples:
CASE 1: You are describing an action in the present tense.
– “This camera doesn’t work.”
– “This camera won’t work.”
CASE 2: You describe an action in the past or future tense.
– “The engine is not working.” (The engine could not be working at the moment I am writing this sentence.)
– “The engine is not working right now. It was working yesterday, though.” (Maybe it wasn’t working yesterday. At least I didn’t notice it!)
CASE 3: You are asking a question, for example, “Is the engine working?”
– “The engine isn’t working. But it was working yesterday.” (Maybe the engine wasn’t working yesterday. At least I didn’t notice it!)
CASE 4: You are describing a habit with verbs like work, get up/wake up, go to bed, eat breakfast, etc.
– “I get up at 6 every day.” (This is my habit.)
– “I always get up at 6 every day.” (And I’ll continue to do so.) “It’s not working” means something is inefficient or temporarily broken.
For example:
– “My computer doesn’t work.” (The computer won’t work.)
– “My computer is not working.” (The computer might still be working in the future.)
– “My computer doesn’t work, but it was working yesterday.” (I don’t know whether it was working yesterday. I didn’t notice.) The simple past tense verb ‘worked’ is used in Case 4 because Case 1 to Case 4 is all about the present.
– “It works!”
– “It doesn’t work!”
Is there any difference at all between these sentences? Yes, there is! The first sentence is a statement and the second sentence is a question. It makes it easier for someone reading your blog post to understand your writing. We recommend using progressive verbs in cases when you are stating a fact or asking a question. The following examples illustrate this point:
For example:
-“The engine should be working.” -“The engine isn’t working. But it was working yesterday.”
– “Is the engine working?”
– “The engine is not working. But it was working yesterday.”
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When should you use progressive verbs?
Here is a list of everyday situations that are good candidates for to use of a progressive verb:
Your car is stuck in the snow. You are waiting for someone or something to arrive or happen. You are doing an activity right now, not in the past or future. You describe daily routines and habits with verbs like work, get up/wake up, go to bed, eat breakfast, etc. You don’t know whether something is working or not. It’s predicted that something will happen in the future or happened in the past. You are telling a story or describing an experience.
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When should you use simple verbs?
Here is a list of everyday situations that are good candidates for to use of a simple verb:
You want to state the simple truth. You want to describe facts, such as mathematical and scientific truths. You want to emphasize that something is true. You want to emphasize that something happened in the past or will happen in the future. You don’t know whether something is working or not. It’s predicted that something won’t happen in the future or didn’t happen in the past.
