Hye!

Present Continuous Tense

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.

Present continuous tense for 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.