FORMING THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

The present continuous of any verb is composed of two parts – the present tense of the verb to be + the present participle of the main verb. (The form of the present participle is: base+ing, e.g. talking, playing, moving, smiling)

Affirmative
Subject	+ *to be*	+ base + ing
She	is	talking.
Negative
Subject	+ to be + not	+ base + ing
She	is not (isn’t)	talking
Interrogative
*to be*	+ subject	+ base + ing
Is	she	talking?

Present Continuous Tense

In the Present Continuous tense, the action is on-going/ still going on and hence continuous. The present continuous tense is used to talk about actions that are happening at this current moment. POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	AM / ARE / IS	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	am	watching	television.
You	are	watching	television.
He	is	watching	television.
Mohan	is	watching	television
The boy	is	watching	television.
She	is	watching	television.
Pooja	is	watching	television.
The girl	is	watching	television.
We	are	watching	television.
You	are	watching	television.
They	are	watching	television.
The children	are	watching	television.

Notice that we use ‘am’ with ‘I’, ‘is’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’ ‘are’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’ The verb form remains the same for all subjects. NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	AM NOT / ARE NOT / IS NOT	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	am not	playing	chess.
You	are not	playing	chess.
He	is not	playing	chess.
Mohan	is not	playing	chess.
The boy	is not	playing	chess.
She	is not	playing	chess.
Pooja	is not	playing	chess.
The girl	is not	playing	chess.
We	are not	playing	chess.
You	are not	playing	chess.
They	are not	playing	chess.
The men	are not	playing	chess.

Notice that we use ‘am not’ with ‘I’, ‘is not’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’ ‘are not’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’ The verb form remains the same for all subjects. INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

AM / ARE / IS	SUBJECT	VERB	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Am	I	reading	a book?
Are	you	reading	a book?
Is	he	reading	a book?
Is	Mohan	reading	a book?
Is	the boy	reading	a book?
Is	she	reading	a book?
Is	Pooja	reading	a book?
Is	the girl	reading	a book?
Are	we	reading	a book?
Are	you	reading	a book?
Are	they	reading	a book?
Are	the men	reading	a book?

Notice the structure of the interrogative statements. We use ‘am’ with ‘I’, ‘is’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’ ‘are’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’ The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

EXAMPLES: TO GO, PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I am going	I am not going	Am I going?
You are going	You aren’t going.	Are you going?
He, she, it is going	He, she, it isn’t going	Is he, she, it going?
We are going	We aren’t going	Are we going?
You are going	You aren’t going	Are you going?
They are going	They aren’t going	Are they going?

Note: alternative negative contractions: I’m not going, you’re not going, he’s not going etc.

FUNCTIONS OF THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

As with all tenses in English, the speaker’s attitude is as important as the time of the action or event. When someone uses the present continuous, they are thinking about something that is unfinished or incomplete

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS IS USED:

to describe an action that is going on at this moment: You are using the Internet. You are studying English grammar.
to describe an action that is going on during this period of time or a trend: Are you still working for the same company? More and more people are becoming vegetarian.
to describe an action or event in the future, which has already been planned or prepared: We’re going on holiday tomorrow. I’m meeting my boyfriend tonight. Are they visiting you next winter?
to describe a temporary event or situation: He usually plays the drums, but he’s playing bass guitar tonight. The weather forecast was good, but it’s raining at the moment.
with “always, forever, constantly”, to describe and emphasise a continuing series of repeated actions: Harry and Sally are always arguing! You’re constantly complaining about your mother-in-law!

BE CAREFUL! Some verbs are not usually used in the continuous form

VERBS THAT ARE NOT USUALLY USED IN THE CONTINUOUS FORM

The verbs in the list below are normally used in the simple form because they refer to states, rather than actions or processes.

SENSES / PERCEPTION

to feel*
to hear
to see*
to smell
to taste

OPINION

to assume
to believe
to consider
to doubt
to feel (= to think)
to find (= to consider)
to suppose
to think*

MENTAL STATES

to forget
to imagine
to know
to mean
to notice
to recognise
to remember
to understand

EMOTIONS / DESIRES

to envy
to fear
to dislike
to hate
to hope
to like
to love
to mind
to prefer
to regret
to want
to wish

MEASUREMENT

to contain
to cost
to hold
to measure
to weigh

OTHERS

to look (=resemble)
to seem
to be (in most cases)
to have(when it means “to possess”)*

EXCEPTIONS

Perception verbs (see, hear, feel, taste, smell) are often used with can: : I can see… These verbs may be used in the continuous form but with a different meaning

This coat feels nice and warm. (your perception of the coat’s qualities)
John’s feeling much better now (his health is improving)
She has three dogs and a cat. (possession)
She’s having supper. (She’s eating)
I can see Anthony in the garden (perception)
I’m seeing Anthony later (We are planning to meet)

]]>