- It is formed the present tense of the verb be and the present participle ( -ing form ) of a verb.
- It is used to express a continued or on going action at present time
- It expresses an action which is in progress at the time of speaking. Example : a person says " I am writing a letter. " > It means that he is in the process of writing a letter right now.
- Such actions which are happening at time of speaking are expressed by Present Continuous Tense. Present Continuous Tense is also called Present Progressive Tense
Uses of the Present Continuous Tense
| Examples | Explanation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| People are buying stamps now. | The action is happening now at this time. | |||
| She's standing near the stamp machine. | They is no action but we use the present continuous with these common verbs stand and holding. | |||
| I'm working overtime this week. | We use present continuous when the action is happening during a specific time period. |
Negative Forms
| Subject | Be | Not | Verb + ing | Complement | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | am | not | getting | mailing supplies | ||
| She | is | not | buying | stamps | ||
| We | are | not | wearing | work clothes | ||
| You | are | not | planning | to go to the post office |
Notes :
1) We can make negative contractions with be.
- I'm not getting mailing supplies.
- You aren't planning to go to the post office.
2) Do not make a contraction with a plural noun and are
- The women aren't driving to the post office.
Verbs that are not usually used in the Continuous Form
- Another different is that there are some verbs in english that we don't use in continuous tense.
- For example : Hear , Smell , Taste , Want , See , Feel , Notice and Measure.
Forming a question
• Auxiliary verb
+ Subject + main verb-ing (Present participle) + object
• Am/is/are + Subject + (1st form of verb or base verb + ing) + object
• Am/is/are + Subject + (1st form of verb or base verb + ing) + object
For making interrogative
sentences, the sentence is started with auxiliary verb rather than
putting auxiliary verb inside the sentence. If the subject is “I” the
sentence starts with auxiliary verb “am”. If the subject is “He, She,
It, singular or proper name” the sentence starts with auxiliary verb
“is”. If subject is “You, They or plural” the sentence starts
with auxiliary verb “are”.
Yes or No question
To ask a question that will be answered with either a yes or no, start with Am, Is or Are, then choose your subject (the person or thing doing the action), followed by the -ing (present participle) form of the verb and then the rest of your question.
To ask a question that will be answered with either a yes or no, start with Am, Is or Are, then choose your subject (the person or thing doing the action), followed by the -ing (present participle) form of the verb and then the rest of your question.
Wh- question
Wh- questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words are what, where, when, which, why, who, how, how many, how much.To create a wh-question, start with the wh-word, then add am, is or are, then the subject (a person or thing that is doing the action), followed by the -ing (present participle) form of the verb and only then add the rest of the sentence.
Here are the examples :
Wh- questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words are what, where, when, which, why, who, how, how many, how much.To create a wh-question, start with the wh-word, then add am, is or are, then the subject (a person or thing that is doing the action), followed by the -ing (present participle) form of the verb and only then add the rest of the sentence.
Here are the examples :
| Statement | Yes/No Question | WH - Question | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am eating. | Am I eating ? | What am I eating ? | ||
| You are crying. | Are you crying ? | Why are you crying ? | ||
| He is going. | Is he going ? | Where is he goin ? | ||
| She is arriving. | Is she arriving ? | When is she arriving ? | ||
| It is sleeping. | Is it sleeping ? | Why is it sleeping ? | ||
| We are leaving. | Are we leaving ? | When are we leaving ? | ||
| They are fighting. | Are they fighting ? | Why are they fighting ? |
