The Present Continuous Tense (Present Progressive)

Introduction

The present continuous tense is one of the first things you learn when you start studying English. It’s a simple tense that helps you talk about what’s happening right now.

In this post, we will explore how to form and use the present continuous. We’ll also include example sentences to illustrate its usage.

What Is The Present Continuous Tense?

The present continuous tense, also known as the present progressive, is a grammatical tense that describes both events happening at the time of speaking and future planned actions.

Here is an example that illustrates the present continuous tense:

In the following sections, we’ll go through how to form and when to use the present continuous tense.

The Forms Of The Present Continuous Tense

The basic form of the present continuous is as follows:

The verb to be (am, are, is)	verb + ing

1. The Affirmative Forms Of The Present Continuous:

I	am	eating.
	‘m
You, we, they	are
	‘re
He, she, it	is
	‘s

2. The Interrogative Forms Of The Present Continuous

Am	I	eating?
Are	you, we, they
Is	he, she, it

3. The Negative Forms Of The Present Continuous

I	am not	eating.
	‘m not
You, we, they	are not
	aren’t
He, she, it	is not
	isn’t

The Uses Of The Present Continuous Tense

1. Actions Happening At The Time Of Speaking

The present continuous is used to talk about actions happening at the time of speaking.

Examples:

• Where is Mary? She is having a bath. (Not she has a bath)
• Jane is in her bedroom. She is doing her homework.
• What are you doing at the moment in front of your screen? Well, I am reading this lesson. I am learning English.

2. Temporary Situations

The present continuous is used to describe temporary situations that are taking place around the time of speaking.

• She works for a web design agency. She‘s working on a new website.
  “The new website ” is a temporary situation and “working for the web design agency” is more permanent. It’s true in general.
• Jane‘s living with her mother until she buys a house.
  “Living with her mother” is a temporary situation.

3. Actions In Progress Or Involving Change

The present continuous can be also used when an action is in progress or involves some sort of change. The action may not be necessarily happening at the time of speaking

Example:

• I am reading a book; it’s a nice book. (I am not necessarily reading it at the present moment. But I started reading it and I haven’t finished it yet.)
• His mother is getting better and, hopefully, she will make a full recovery. (There is a positive change in her health.)
• Studies show that the environment is getting worse day in and day out. (The environment is getting worse)

4. planned Actions In The Future

The present continuous can also be used to describe plans, things that are already discussed, or planned.

Examples:

• They are traveling to France in June. They have already bought the tickets.
• Nadia is starting a new job on Monday.

Time Expressions Used With The Present Continuous

These are examples of the time expressions (also called signal words) that are used with the present continuous tense:

now, right now, at the moment, currently, today, this week, this month, this year, these days, etc.

The above time expressions are important when using the present continuous tense. Here is why they are crucial:

• Contextual Clarity: Time expressions specify when an action occurs, adding clarity to the present continuous tense.
• Distinguishing Timeframes: They help distinguish actions in progress from habitual or general statements.

Stative Verbs Vs. Action Verbs

Some verbs, called stative verbs, are typically not used in the present continuous.

Examples:

be, believe, belong, hate, hear, like, love, mean, prefer, remain, realize, see, seem, smell, think, understand, want, wish

These verbs are called stative verbs in contrast to action verbs (also referred to as “dynamic verbs”) such as “work, play, eat, etc.”

It’s not correct to say:

• He is wanting to buy a new car.
• I am preferring tea.
• She is believing in God

You must say:

• He wants to buy a new car.
• I prefer tea.
• She believes in God.

The -Ing Spelling Rules

When adding the ing to verbs in continuous verbs, there are specific rules that we have to follow:

1. The general rule is to add -ing to the verb.

Examples:

• play + ing → playing
• watch + ing → watching

2. For the verbs that end in a silent e, we drop the e and add -ing.

Example:

• close + ing → closing
• write + ing → writing

3. For one syllable-verbs ending in a vowel and a consonant, we double the final consonant and add -ing.

Example:

• stop + ing → stopping
• set + ing → setting

4. For verbs ending in w, y, or, x, we only add -ing.

Examples:

• fix + ing → fixing
• say + ing → saying
• snow + ing → snowing

4. For verbs ending in a vowel and a consonant with stress on the final syllable, we double the consonant and add -ing.

Examples:

• begin + ing → beginning
• admit + ing → admitting
• refer + ing → referring
• upset + ing → upsetting

5. For verbs ending in -ie, we drop the -ie and add –ing.

Examples:

• die + ing → dying
• lie + ing → lying

6. For Verbs ending in consonant + vowel + L, we have two rules depending on whether you are using American or British English.

• In American English, we do not double the final L.
  Example: travel + ing → traveling
• In British English, we double the final L.
  Example: travel + ing → travelling.

Summary

Use	Example
Actions Happening At The Time Of Speaking	“She is having a bath.”
Temporary Situations That Are Taking Place Around The Time Of Speaking	“She’s working on a new website.”
Actions In Progress Or Involving Change	“The weather is getting worse and worse.”
Planned Actions In The Future	“They are traveling to Morocco in June.”

Here is a link to learn more about continuous tenses

Related Pages:

• The present simple
• Present continuous
• Simple Present VS Present Continuous
• The present continuous for future plans
• State and dynamic verbs
• Exercises on the present continuous
• Exercise: Present simple or present continuous
• Dynamic and stative verbs exercise
• Listen to the song “Sailing” by Rod Stewart.