[Update] Present Continuous Tense (Progressive) | present continuous tense – NATAVIGUIDES

What is the present continuous tense?

present participle ( form) of the verb after the present-tense form of the (which conjugates as , or ).

We create the present continuous tense by using theform) of the verb after the present-tense form of the auxiliary verb (which conjugates as, or).

always the case or are at a fixed time in the future, we use the present continuous (also called the present progressive) tense to speak about actions that are currently happening, whether generally or at the exact moment of speech. It can also be used to describe actions or events that are planned for the future (but are not definitively fixed in time, such as a timetable).

Unlike the present simple tense , which is used to express things that arethe case or are at a fixed time in the future, we use the(also called theto speak about actions that are currently happening, whether generally or at the exact moment of speech. It can also be used to describe actions or events that are planned for the future (but are not definitively fixed in time, such as a timetable).

Actions happening at the moment of speech

The most common occurrence of the present continuous is when someone or something is performing an action at the very moment being described. In this case, the object of the verb is usually in the presence of or very near to the speaker. For example:

• “I am going home now.”
• “He is crying because of the movie.”
• “We are heading to the park.”
• “It is raining outside.”

Actions happening currently, but not at the moment of speech

The present continuous can also indicate something that is currently happening but which is not at the exact moment of speech. It generally refers to something that the person or thing is currently engaged in doing that is taking place continuously over a longer period of time, but which is not (necessarily) permanent. For example:

• “John is working in telemarketing.”
• “She is running for president.”
• “I am living in London.”

Actions or events planned for the future

Like the present simple tense, the present continuous can also describe future events. However, unlike the present simple, it describes that which someone is planning or expecting to do, as opposed to that which is at a fixed point in time in the future. The formation of the verb does not change to reflect this; rather, information from the rest of the sentence informs the future intention.

• “She is running for president .”
• “I am taking my driving test .”
• “We are watching a movie .”

With adverbs

We can also add adverbs relating to time between and the present participle to specify or clarify or something happens or occurs.

• “I am leaving.” (I am leaving sooner than I expected.)
• “She is living next door.” (She continues to live next door, perhaps longer than was expected.)

The adverb

There is also a special usage when the adverb is used between and the present participle. Rather than literally meaning that the action happens (as you might expect), it instead means that that action happens. We use this as a means of adding hyperbolic emphasis to how frequently something happens or occurs, and it usually implies that the action or event is questionable, irritating, or undesirable to some degree. For example:

• “My husband is leaving dirty dishes in the sink!”
• “The used car I bought is breaking down.”
• “You are losing your phone!”

Negative sentences

A negative sentence in the present continuous describes what is not currently happening. We form these by adding the word after the auxiliary verb . For second-person, third-person, and first-person plural (but not first-person singular), and can also be contracted.

For example:

• “I am watching the movie.”
• “He is crying.”
• “You aren’t leaving until the house is clean.”
• “She isn’t going home for Thanksgiving this year.”

• “I amn’t reading that anymore.” (incorrect)

can also be replaced with the adverbial phrase to indicate that someone or something doing something, but that is not the case now. For instance:

• “She is living in New York.”

Interrogative sentences

Interrogative (question) sentences in the present continuous tense are formed by reversing the verb and the subject. If adverbs are used to clarify or specify the time, they come before the main verb or at the end of the sentence.

• “Is she sleeping?”
• “Are you seeing this?”
• “Are they going home ?”
• “Is it raining outside?”

The present continuous can also be used with the question words , and :

• “ is she taking the exam?”
• “ are you watching?”
• “ is he leaving?”
• “’s talking?”
• “ are they getting to the station?”

Negative interrogative sentences

Negative interrogative sentences also ask a question, but they imply that the speaker expects (or expected) something to be the case. They can be used to express surprise if something is no longer happening.

We form these by inverting and the subject, and then adding the word after the subject. Again, and can be contracted; if they are, the contraction comes before the subject. This can serve to make the sentence sound less formal and stuffy. And adverbs can still be used to specify or clarify time. For example:

• “Is she painting ?”
• “You want to play outside? it raining?”
• “Wait, they dating?”

Like the negative sentence, can be used instead of in negative interrogative sentences. Just note that you do not use other adverbs in this case:

• “Are Tim and John living together?”
• “Is it raining outside?”

Negative interrogative sentences in the present continuous can also be used with question words, most commonly and . These typically express the speaker’s surprise or dismay that something is not the case:

• “ is she not leaving today?”
• “ are you not watching the match on TV?”
• “ aren’t we abandoning this foolish enterprise?”
• “It’s the middle of December. is it not snowing yet?”
• “I just upgraded this computer, so isn’t it working?”
• “I’ve been practicing for hours. am I not getting better at this?”

Note that we can use the question words , and in negative interrogative sentences, but, unlike and , these are most often used for rhetorical effect in response to another question. For instance:

• Speaker A: “Where are you going in Europe this summer?”
• Speaker B: “ aren’t we going?” ()

• Speaker A: “Who all is coming to the party tonight?”
• Speaker B: “Oh man, isn’t coming?” ()

• Speaker A: “We’re having a party tonight. Do you want to come, or do you have to study?”
• Speaker B: “You know me. am I not studying?” ()

However, this doesn’t mean that we can’t form literal negative questions with , or —it’s just less common. Here are a few examples showing when such sentences might be used:

• “OK, I need one more person to cover the night shift tomorrow. isn’t working in the morning?”
• “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear your announcement. in the city did you say the tour group is not visiting?”
• “What’s the best time to visit Seattle? is it not raining there?”

(For more information about different types of sentences, go to the chapter on Sentences in the part of the guide on Syntax .)

Quiz

1. Which auxiliary verb is used in the present continuous tense?

a) Do
b) Will
c) Be
d) May

2. Which of the following sentences is in the present continuous tense?

a) “She will walk home alone.”
b) “She walks home alone.”
c) “She has walked home alone.”
d) “She is walking home alone.”

3. In the present continuous tense, which of the following question words is most commonly used in negative interrogative sentences?

a) Who
b) Where
c) Why
d) How
e) A & B
f) B & D
g) C & D
h) All of the above
i) None of the above

4. In which grammatical person (first person, second person, third person) is it not correct to contract “be” with “not”?

a) First-person singular
b) First-person plural
c) Second person
d) Third-person singular
e) Third-person plural

5. What kind of action is the following sentence describing?
“My brother William is always talking about his great political ambitions.”

a) An action happening at the moment of speech.
b) An action or event planned for the future.
c) An action happening currently, but not at the exact moment of speech.
d) An action that happens very often, especially something questionable, irritating, or undesirable.

6. Which of the following questions is not in the present continuous tense?

a) “Is she still living in San Francisco?”
b) “Will we be seeing you tonight?”
c) “Aren’t we meeting them later?”
d) “Is John working right now?”

Right now, you are reading words. If you continue to read these words, you will learn a lot more about grammar. Specifically, we are going to learn about a neat way to use verbs. I am talking about the way that we use verbs to describe actions that are happening right now. So, let’s not waste any more time and check out a cool part of grammar known as the present continuous tense.

What is present continuous tense?

We use verbs to refer to actions and states. To do so, we use many different types of verb tenses to say when actions occur or when states exist. The tense of a verb indicates when in time an event happened. Right now, we are going to look at a particular verb tense that refers to something that happens in the present but also keeps the fun going in the future: the present continuous tense. The present continuous tense, also called the present progressive tense, is a versatile verb tense that can refer to actions that are happening currently in the present and/or that happen in the future.

For example, the sentence I am washing my car expresses the thought that I am washing my car right now and I will continue to do so for some time in the future. The present continuous tense refers to actions and states that happen in the present but are continuous, that is, they still are ongoing and haven’t ended yet—that we know of right now, at least. I am obviously not going to wash my car forever!

What’s funner than learning about grammar? Well, discussing if “funner” is a word or not! Find out here.

When do you use present continuous?

We often use the present continuous tense to refer to temporary states or actions. Putting it another way, we use the present continuous tense to describe an action or state that is happening now and will continue to happen until an as of yet unknown time in the future. Here are two examples of sentences that use the present continuous tense this way:

 

• Meghan is reading a book in the living room.
• My cat is watching the birds through the window.

Both of these sentences refer to actions that are being done for the moment but will stop when Meghan or that hungry cat does something else. We use the present continuous tense to indicate such a continuous action or state.

Because English grammar loves to make things difficult for us, we also often use the present continuous tense to refer to future events, especially ones that have been planned. When we do this, we often use adverbs of time to clarify that the present continuous tense is being used to refer to a future event rather than an event already in progress.

 

• I am going to Portugal this summer.
• We are celebrating Ben’s birthday next week.

There is one important caveat to keep in mind when using the present continuous tense. Typically, we don’t use the present continuous tense with stative verbs. Generally speaking, stative verbs describe states of existence rather than actions, so it usually doesn’t make sense to refer to them as being “in progress.” The following two sentences show incorrect use of the present continuous tense with stative verbs. You will probably notice how odd these sentences sound.

 

• That watch is looking cheap.
• My daughter is believing in Santa Claus.

Instead, we would use the simple present tense:

 

• That watch looks cheap.
• My daughter believes in Santa Claus.

Be careful of verbs that could be used as either stative or nonstative verbs depending on meaning or context.

For instance, we more commonly say Amanda appears sad today rather than Amanda is appearing sad today. On the other hand, we usually say The defendant is appearing in court tonight for such an upcoming event, rather than The defendant appears in court tonight.

Sometimes you need to a simple review to brush up your skills. Take a look at the simple present tense here.

How to form present continuous tense

To form the present continuous tense, we use the verb be followed by the present participle of the verb. The present participle is a form of a verb that ends in the suffix -ing. For example, the present participle of eat is eating. When using the present continuous tense, the verb be must be correctly conjugated so it agrees with the subject. For example:

 

• I am eating
• You are eating
• He/she/it is eating
• We are eating
• You are eating
• They are eating

Here are examples of the present continuous tense used in several sentences. Notice that the verb be is correctly conjugated to agree with the subject.

 

• I am studying for my algebra test.
• My lazy dog is snoring loudly.
• We are going to the beach during summer vacation.

How to make present continuous tense negative

In order to make the present continuous tense negative, all you need to do is put the word not between the verb be and the present participle. Contractions are also fine.

 

• I am not listening to his dumb jokes.
• She isn’t enjoying her time at the amusement park because of her toothache.
• Luckily, those hungry wolves aren’t heading this way.

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