Present continuous tense in English
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The present continuous tense in English is used to describe an action or event that is taking place in that moment.
The present continuous tense consists of two parts:
Present continuous tense examples:
The table below shows the conjugation of the verb 'to be'.
Subject | Present tense of the verb to be |
---|---|
I | am |
You | are |
He / she / it | is |
We | are |
You | are |
They | are |
How the present continuous tense is formed, depends on whether the sentence is:
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Structure: subject / pronoun + form of 'to be' + verb + suffix '-ing' + rest of the sentence
Examples:
Structure: subject / pronoun + negative form of 'to be' + verb + suffix 'ing' + rest of the sentence
The table below shows the conjugation of the verb 'to be' in the negative form.
Subject | Verb 'to be' |
---|---|
I | am not |
You | are not |
He / she / it | is not |
We | are not |
You | are not |
They | are not |
Examples:
Structure: form of the verb 'to be' + subject / pronoun + verb + suffix '-ing' + rest of the sentence + question mark
Examples:
The table below shows the situations in which the present continuous is used.
Situation | Example |
---|---|
You want to describe an action or event that takes place at that exact moment. |
|
You want to describe an action or event that is happening now, but not necessarily during the conversation. |
|
You want to describe an action or event that is already scheduled, but is not happening right now. |
|
You want to describe a temporary event or a temporary situation. |
|
You want to describe and emphasize a continuous series of repeated actions. Often combined with words as 'always, forever, constantly.' |
|
You can recognize the use of the present continuous tense when the sentence contains words as:
There are some verbs that normally don't appear in the present continuous, because they refer to a status and not to an action or event:
Do the exercises below to test your knowledge of the present continuous.
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