The Present Continuous Tense

The Present continuous tense

The present progressive puts emphasis on the course or duration of an action.

Past

Future

Moment of speaking

The Present Continuous Tense

Affirmative

am'm

are're

is's

YouWe They

He She It

playing singing drinking

I am painting red flowers with my paint brushes.

• In the current time.

The Present Continuous Tense

negative

am'm

playing singing drinking

YouWe They

are're

not

He She It

is's

I am not drawing a chicken with my pencil.

NOT

The Present Continuous Tense

interrogative: YES / NO QUESTIONS

YouWe They

He She It

Am

Are

Is

playing ? singing ? drinking ?

VS

Affirmative answers

Negative Answers

• Shor answer:

No, I am not / I'm notNo, he is not / he's not / he isn't No, they are not / they're not / they aren't

• Long answer:

No, I am not / I'm not running... No, he is not / he's not / he isn't listening... No, they are not / they're not / they aren't swimming...

• Short answer:

Yes, I amYes, she isYes, we are

• Long answer:

Yes, I am / I'm playing... Yes, she is / she's dancing... Yes, we are / we're singing...

The Present Continuous Tense

interrogative: INFORMATION QUESTIONS

When

am

YouWe They

He She It

playing ? singing ? drinking ?

are

What

(complement)

Why

is

What is she doing? She is sketching some dog photographies

ING Spelling

General rule

In general, we just add -ING to the base form of a verb

eating

eat

going

go

reading

read

Verbs ending in consonant + silent E

Remove the silent E from the base form of the verb and add -ING

dancing

dance

riding

ride

writing

write

Be careful!

Do not remove the E in this cases; just add -ING

being

be

agreeing

agree

seeing

see

Consonant + vowel + consonant

When a verb with one syllable ends in a C + V + C we double the final consonant before adding -ING .

cut

cutting

run

running

stop

stopping

Last syllable IS stressed

If the verb has two or more syllables and the last one IS stressed, double the final letter.

Begin

Beginning

Forget

Forgetting

Submit

Submitting

Time expressions

Today

Now

This week

At the moment

Nowadays

Time expressions

I'm traveling to Paris next weekend. Mary is watching a movie at the moment. This week, I'm visiting my family, we have a surprise party. Felix is reading a book now. Today I'm not doing anything special, just the usual.