PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

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 curent 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.
John	is	watching	television
The boy	is	watching	television.
She	is	watching	television.
Angel	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.
John	is not	playing	chess.
The boy	is not	playing	chess.
She	is not	playing	chess.
Angel	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	John	reading	a book?
Is	the boy	reading	a book?
Is	she	reading	a book?
Is	Angel	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?

I am singing
We often use the present continuous tense in English. It is very different from the simple present tense, both in structure and in use.
How do we make the Present Continuous Tense?
The structure of the present continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		be		base + ing

Look at these examples:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	am		speaking	to you.
+	You	are		reading	this
-	She	is	not	staying	in London.
-	We	are	not	playing	football.
?	Is	he		watching	TV?
?	Are	they		waiting	for John?

How do we use the Present Continuous Tense?
We use the present continuous tense to talk about:

• action happening now
• action in the future

Present continuous tense for action happening now
a) for action happening exactly now

I am eating my lunch.
past	present	future
	The action is happening now.

Look at these examples. Right now you are looking at this screen and at the same time...

...the pages are turning.	...the candle is burning.	...the numbers are spinning.

b) for action happening around now
The action may not be happening exactly now, but it is happening just before and just after now, and it is not permanent or habitual.
Look at these examples:

• Muriel is learning to drive.
• I am living with my sister until I find an apartment.

Present continuous tense for the future
We can also use the present continuous tense to talk about the future—if we add a future word!! We must add (or understand from the context) a future word. "Future words" include, for example, tomorrow, next year, in June, at Christmas etc. We only use the present continuous tense to talk about the future when we have planned to do something before we speak. We have already made a decision and a plan before speaking.

I am taking my exam next month.
past	present	future
.	!!!
	A firm plan or programme exists now.	The action is in the future.

Look at these examples:

• We're eating in a restaurant tonight. We've already booked the table..
• They can play tennis with you tomorrow. They're not working.
• When are you starting your new job?

In these examples, we have a firm plan or programme before speaking. The decision and plan were made before speaking.
How do we spell the Present Continuous Tense?

Basic rule	Just add -ing to the base verb:
	work	>	working
	play	>	playing
	assist	>	assisting
	see	>	seeing
	be	>	being
Exception1	If the base verb ends in consonant + stressed vowel + consonant, double the last letter: s t o p consonant stressedvowel consonant (vowels = a, e, i, o, u)
	stop	>	stopping
	run	>	running
	begin	>	beginning
	Note that this exception does not apply when the last syllable of the base verb is not stressed:
	open	>	opening
Exception2	If the base verb ends in ie, change the ie to y:
	lie	>	lying
	die	>	dying
Exception3	If the base verb ends in vowel + consonant + e, omit the e:
	come	>	coming
	mistake	>	mistaking