Present Continuous Tense

PRESENT CONTINUOUS
or

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
TENSE

PRESENT CONTINUOUS IN TV SERIES

USE:

• to talk about actions that are happening right
now
I am teaching and you are listening to me.
Someone is talking outside.
A mobile phone is ringing.

• to talk about something that is happening
(these days), but not necessarily right now

You are studying at the Faculty of Economics.

FORM:

Subject + to be + verb+ing

Negatives and Questions in the Present Continuous Tense

Statement Yes/no Wh- question Negative
question
I am eating. What am I eating? I am not eating.
You are crying. Am I eating? Why are you crying? You are not crying.
He is going. Are you crying? Where is he going? He is not going.
She is arriving. Is he going? When is she arriving? She is not arriving.
It is sleeping. Is she arriving? Why is it sleeping? It is not sleeping.
We are leaving. Is it sleeping? When are we leaving? We are not leaving.
Are we leaving? They are not arguing.
They are arguing.
Are they arguing? Why are they arguing?

Questions and Negatives

Questions:
To be + subject + verb + ing +...?

WH-word + to be + subject + verb + ing + ...

Negatives:
Subject + to be + not + verb + ing ...



TIME EXPRESSIONS

• now / right now
• nowadays
• at the moment
• this year / this term
• for the time being
• currently
• Listen! Look!....

NON-CONTINUOUS VERBS

• also called stative verbs
• not generally used in progressive tenses
• they refer to the things that are true (the truth

generally doesn’t change)
• verbs about:

– thoughts
– possession
– emotions
– body senses
– other (opinion, definition etc.)

List of non-continuous verbs:















PRESENT SIMPLE vs. PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Any Questions?

present simple vs continuous exercises