I have found the following sentences in my textbook and I wonder what´s the idea here:
People are working longer hours than in the past.
People are eating more and more ready meals and takeaways.
the explanation for the present continous being “a changing situation”. Would it be possible to use the present simple (something true in general now)?
People work longer hours nowadays.
People eat more fast food than they used to.
if not, is it because of longer and more or nowadays?
or are they both possible depending on the interpretation?
“People work / are working longer hours than in the past.”
“People work / are working longer hours nowadays.”
“People eat /are eating more fast food than they used to.”
There is no great difference in meaning, but the sentences that use the continuous tense feel slightly more vivid.
In the other sentence, with “more and more”, substituting the simple tense seems to somehow change the tone, and the continuous tense works better in my opinion. However, this is to some extent dependent on the surrounding context.