Not always I understand what she's saying vs. what she says

Question

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.

Answer 1

Here are explanations of simplified versions of the two statements

I do not understand what she is saying

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

I do not understand what she says

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

I must do my homework
I must not do my homework

If there isn't an auxiliary verb, you add do:

I know
I do not know

So, to make your sentences grammatical, you would say

I do not always understand what she is saying
I do not always understand what she says

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.

Answer 2

• Not always do I understand what she says. [literary]

• Not always do I understand what she is saying. [literary]

Otherwise, the usual order of an adverb of frequency is before the verb:

I don't always understand what she is saying or what she says. [standard order of words]

say or saying, it makes no difference to the grammar of the first verb in the sentence.

Please note: the adverbs of frequency (often, sometimes, never, always, etc.) used to make general statement with the present simple, usually go right before the verb.