Present continuous tense in English
Exercises
The present continuous tense in English is used to describe an action or event that is taking place in that moment.
Lesson Outline
HideStructure and rules of the present continuous tense
The present continuous tense consists of two parts:
- The present tense of the verb 'to be'.
- The verb + the suffix '-ing'
Present continuous tense examples:
- He is working at the supermarket right now.
- I am calling my mother now.
The table below shows the conjugation of the verb 'to be'.
| Subject | Present tense of the verb to be |
|---|---|
| I | am |
| You | are |
| He / she / it | is |
| We | are |
| You | are |
| They | are |
How the present continuous tense is formed, depends on whether the sentence is:
- Affirmative: expresses the truth of a certain assertion.
- Negative: expresses the falsity of a certain assertion.
- Interrogative: expresses a question.
1. Affirmatives
Structure: subject / pronoun + form of 'to be' + verb + suffix '-ing' + rest of the sentence
Examples:
- I am walking to school.
- He is cooking a meal for his family.
- They are drinking beer in a bar.
2. Negatives
Structure: subject / pronoun + negative form of 'to be' + verb + suffix 'ing' + rest of the sentence
The table below shows the conjugation of the verb 'to be' in the negative form.
| Subject | Verb 'to be' |
|---|---|
| I | am not |
| You | are not |
| He / she / it | is not |
| We | are not |
| You | are not |
| They | are not |
Examples:
- I am not watching television now.
- He is not paying attention in class today.
- We are not paying for your meal this time.
3. Interrogatives
Structure: form of the verb 'to be' + subject / pronoun + verb + suffix '-ing' + rest of the sentence + question mark
Examples:
- Are you coming to the party tonight?
- Is he really studying now?
- Are they running in the woods?
Usage of the present continuous in English
The table below shows the situations in which the present continuous is used.
| Situation | Example |
|---|---|
| You want to describe an action or event that takes place at that exact moment. |
|
| You want to describe an action or event that is happening now, but not necessarily during the conversation. |
|
| You want to describe an action or event that is already scheduled, but is not happening right now. |
|
| You want to describe a temporary event or a temporary situation. |
|
| You want to describe and emphasize a continuous series of repeated actions. Often combined with words as 'always, forever, constantly.' |
|
Signal words present continuous
You can recognize the use of the present continuous tense when the sentence contains words as:
- Now
- Right now
- Just now
- At the moment
- Listen!
- Look!
- In the morning
- In the afternoon
- Tomorrow
- Next Monday, Tuesday et cetera
There are some verbs that normally don't appear in the present continuous, because they refer to a status and not to an action or event:
- To look
- To hear
- To imagine
- To forget
- To think
- To smell
- To taste
- To seem
- To doubt
- To consider
- To hope
- To hate
- To feel
- To dislike
- To fear
- To envy
- To hold
- To cost
- To be
- To regret
- To like
- To know
- To prefer
- To mind
- To love
- To notice
- To mean
- To have
- To measure
- To want
- To feel (as in 'to think)
- To weigh
- To suppose
- To find (as in 'to consider)
- To contain
- To believe
- To assume
- To wish
- To understand
- To remember
- To recognize
Do the exercises below to test your knowledge of the present continuous.
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