Present Continuous

The Present Continuous is a tense you should know almost from the moment you start learning English. Pay attention because here I explain everything to you!

The present continuousin English is one of the most basic verb tenses in English grammar. Furthermore, from my point of view, it is one of the easiest to learn to use. And in this article, I am going to explain exactly how the present continuous is formed and what it is used for in English.😃

How the Present Continuous is Formed

The present continuous is formed as follows:

to be (present – am, is, are) + main verb (-ing)

That is, we use the present simple of the verb to be as an auxiliary verb (am, is, are) and the main verb ending in -ing. For example: 

I can’t talk now; I’m watching the game. (Estoy viendo el partido)

John’s working out at the gym. (John está haciendo ejercicio en el gimnasio)

They are driving right now. (Están conduciendo ahora mismo)

Knowing this, we can now look at examples of affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences in the present continuous. 

Present Continuous: affirmative form

The pattern we need to follow, as we have seen, is be doing something, where be is in the present tense and doing represents the main verb. 

Below are 5 examples of affirmative sentences in the present continuous: 

I’m waiting for the film to finish. 

You’re writing a novel.

Liam is reading a book now. 

Rachel’s having a shower. 

I’m taking a break today. 

As you can see in the examples, it is common to contract the verb to be with the subject in affirmative sentences. 

Let’s move on now to negative sentences in the present continuous. 

Present Continuous: negative form

To construct negative sentences, we only need to add not to the verb to be (am not, are not, is not). 

To better see the change, let’s transform the same sentences from above into negative ones. 

As you can see, it is very easy to construct negative sentences in the present continuous once you know the verb to be well. 🙂

Also note the detail of the contractions. When we say is not, we usually contract it as isn’t; and when we say are not, it is usually contracted as aren’t. Although it is also correct not to do so. Remember that we usually use contractions in informal writing or orally. 

Present Continuous: interrogative form (questions)

Finally, let’s look at how to construct questions in the present continuous. 

As with other verb forms, when constructing an interrogative sentence with the present continuous, we have to invert the order of the auxiliary verb (am, is, are) and the subject. 

As you can see, it’s very easy. 🙂

When to Use the Present Continuous

Now we come to the most complex part of any verb tense: understanding how and when it is used. And in the case of the present continuous, we will also see that the uses are not necessarily always in the present.

The uses of the present continuous are as follows: 

• Actions in progress at that moment: 

Hi, mum! I’m calling to let you know that I’m with Benjamin.

Is she really studying at the library? I’ve been there and I haven’t seen her.

• Actions in progress in general: 

I’m studying quite a lot for my final exams.

She’s learning how to drive.

• Actions developing over a period of time: 

The number of unemployed people in Spain is growing every year.

Tech companies are contributing to the growth of the economy. 

• Complaints about something that happens frequently (with always): 

Stop it! You’re always nagging me about making my bed. Let it be!

I hate that they’re always making noise upstairs. 

• Future plans: 

We’re getting married in March.

Are you going anywhere this summer?

As you can see, on the one hand we use the present continuous for things that are happening now (either at that moment or in general), and on the other hand, we use it to complain and to talk about future plans (in English we say future arrangements). 

These last two uses are probably the most conflicting when learning to use the present continuous. 

Spelling changes when adding -ing

Since to form the present continuous we have to add the suffix –ing to the main verb, we have to take into account the possible spelling changes that may occur. Let’s look at the different cases: 

• Verbs ending in vowel + vowel + consonant do not change; we only add -ing:
  • wait → waiting
  • bait → baiting 
  • meet → meeting
  • beat → beating
• Verbs ending in a single -y do not change; we only add -ing:
  • stay → staying
  • play → playing 
  • say → saying
• Verbs ending in a single -e lose the -e and we add -ing:
  • make → making
  • decide → deciding
  • write → writing
• One-syllable verbs ending in consonant + vowel + consonant double the last consonant and we add -ing:
  • sit → sitting
  • swim → swimming
  • cut → cutting
• Verbs ending in -ie change to -y and we add -ing:
  • lie → lying
  • tie → tying
  • die → dying

Stative vs Action Verbs

The present continuous is normally used with action verbs, and not with stative verbs. 

As we discussed in the article on the present simple, action verbs (or dynamic verbs) describe activities, actions that we «perform», while stative verbs do not describe actions, but states (obviously!). 

What this implies is that many verbs will almost never take a continuous form with the present continuous. For example: 

We’re driving to the coast. 

• Drive is an action verb, so it is very common to see it in a continuous form. 

She believes in God. 

• Believe is a stative verb, so it will be rare to see it in the present continuous (She’s believing in God.)

The Present Continuous in PDF

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Until the next article, don’t forget to keep smiling!