Grammar-lessonGRAMMAR

The Present Continuous / Progressive tense

driving

John is in his car. He is on his way to work.
He is driving to work
This means he is driving now: "at the time of speaking"
This is the present continuous.

What is the present continuous?

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

This page will present the forms and uses of the present continuous.

The forms of the present continuous tense

The basic form of the present continuous is as follows:

The verb to be (in the simple present) verb + ing

The affirmative forms of the present continuous:

I

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

The interrogative forms of the present continuous

Am I

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

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

present continuous

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 amlearning 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.

Note:

Compare these two examples to see the difference between the present simple and the present continuous:

  1. She works for a web design agency. → The verb - works - is in the simple present because it refers to a permanent situation.
  2. She 's working on a new website. → The verb - 's working - is in the present continuous because it refers to 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, day out. (The environment is getting worse)

4. Future plans

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

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:

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

Stative verbs (special verbs)

Some 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.

The Uses Of The Present Continuous Tense

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.