Accent on the present: the present progressive
If you want to talk about something that is happening at the moment you are speaking, you use the present progressive.
We're having a meeting. Come and join in.
What am I doing? I'm looking out of the window.
My head is aching.
I'm already feeling tense.
If you want to emphasize the present moment or to indicate that a situation is temporary, you use the present progressive.
Only one hospital, in Montreal, is functioning efficiently.
We're trying to create a more democratic society.
She's spending the summer in Europe.
I'm working as a British Council Officer.
I'm living with my mother while I look for a new apartment.
You also use the present progressive to indicate changes, trends, development, and progress.
The village is changing but it is still undisturbed.
His handwriting is improving.
World energy demand is increasing at a rate of about 3% per year.
If you want to talk about a habitual action that takes place regularly, especially one which is new or temporary, you use the present progressive.
You're drinking too much.
Do you know if she's still playing these days?
She's seeing a lot more of him than she used to.
Emphasizing time in the present: using adjuncts
You do not normally need to use an adjunct of time or other time expression with present tenses, but you can add them in order to emphasize the immediate present or general present, or to contrast the present with the past or future.
We're working with Britney Spears just at this moment, recording an autumn series.
We're safe now.
What's the matter with you today, Marnie?
I didn't get a school loan this year.
If you want to complain that something happens too often, use the Present Progressive with always.
My husband is always leaving the toilet seat up.
Why are you always coming to class late?
