The Present Continuous

We make the present continuous tense by adding -ing to the base verb:

Look – I am looking / I'm lookingLaugh – You are laughing / You're laughing

Walk – She is walking / She's walkingLearn – We are learning / We're learning

Listen – They are listening / They're listening

Negative Sentences

I'm not lookingYou / we / they aren't looking

He / she / it isn't looking

The Present ContinuousListening

Questions

Am I looking?Are you / we / they looking?

Is he / she / it looking?

Yes / No questions

The rule of the three words

Are you going? Yes I am / No, I'm notYes, I'm

Is Anna working? Yes, she is / No, she isn'tYes, she's

What are they doing?

The Present Continuous

● General rule: Just add -ing into the base verb:go – going / visit - visiting

● Verbs that end in one -e lose the -e:smoke – smoking / come – coming

But: - be – being

- Verbs that end in -ee, don't lose an -e:agree – agreeing / see – seeing

- Verbs that end in -ie, change the ie to y:lie – lying / die - dying

The Present Continuous

How do we spell the Present Continuous tense?

How do we spell the Present Continuous tense?

● Verbs of 1 syllable, with one vowel and a consonant, the consonant is doubled:

stop – stopping / get – getting / plan – planningBut we do not double when there are two consonants (ask – asking), two vowels (seem – seeming / shout – shouting), or the final consonant is x, y, or z (fax – faxing / play – playing / show - showing)

● Verbs of more than 1 syllable that end in one stressed vowel + consonant, double the last letter: begin – beginning / forbid – forbidding / permit - permitting

But if the last syllable of the base verb is not stressed, we do not double : Open – openingExceptions : travel – travelling / cancel - cancelling

Use

● To express an activity that is happening now:Don't turn the TV off. I'm watching it

You can't speak to Jane. She's having a bath

● To express and activity happening around now, but perhaps not at the moment of speaking:I must get back to the office. We're working on a project

Don't take that book! Jane's reading it

● For temporary situations:Peter's a student, but he's working as a barman during

the holidaysI'm living with a friend until I find a place of my own

Use

● To describe change, development and progress:My English is improving

The Earth is slowly getting warmerThe number of cars on the road is increasing

● To indicate imminent or future actions that we have planned before speaking (in general, we add a future word):

Are you going to the concert this weekend?I'm playing badminton with Matthew tomorrow

The Present Continuous

Time expressions

now / today / at the moment / at present / currently / for the time being