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The population is increasing very fast

We use the present continuous when we talk about changes happening around now - so this sentence should be correct.

But what if I say this?

The population increases every day

I can't use present continuous, right? Because of "every day"

This week I am having a lot of work

This week I have a lot of work

Even though we are talking about a permanent situation, the verb to have is non-progressive in this case so we should use the present simple, right? But I have seen a lot of sentences such as

"I am having a party today"

The verb have is non-progressive in this sentence so why people tend to use the present continuous?

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    I don't see anything wrong with saying "the population is increasing every day," or "the population is increasing year by year."
    – Mick
    Commented Dec 11, 2016 at 14:16
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    Have is a stative verb. It emplies state rather than an action. Just like the verb "know". So we dont use it progressively. We dont say "I've been knowing for years" but "I've known you for years".
    – Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini
    Commented Dec 11, 2016 at 14:32
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    Present continuos-"Im having party" is used to express a future action.
    – Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini
    Commented Dec 11, 2016 at 14:35

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The verb have is non-progressive in this sentence so why people tend to use the present continuous?

That's because Present Continuous can also be used to talk about the future - usually when you have something planned, and usually when it's near future. For example:

I'm taking John home tomorrow.

You can also use Present Simple to talk about the future, but in a slightly different context - you'd use it when the future event occurs according to some sort of schedule, timetable or an announced date. For example:

I graduate from college in June.

As for your question regarding "every day" - to me, both the simple and continuous tense are correct here. I'd slightly favor the continuous form, since the Present Simple seems to technically imply that every day, there's a single moment in which the population increases, instead of it being a continuous process. Both are perfectly understandable, though, and the intended meaning should be clear to any recipient.

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Regarding "The population increases everyday." Yes, you absolutely can say, "The population is increasing everyday."

You cannot say, "I am having a lot of work," but you can say, "I am having to do a lot of work."

Don't forget that in English, the progressive (the continuous) is also used to speak about future plans or schedules. See http://esl.about.com/od/grammarstructures/a/prescont.htm

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    "I am having to do a lot of work" sounds very wrong to me (I'm a native speaker). Do you have an example of that being used by a native speaker?
    – Sparksbet
    Commented Mar 2, 2018 at 4:36

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