When is the present continuous used? Present Continuous Tense

Hello! If you are interested in the rules for the formation and use of time Present Continuous in English, then you've come to the right place! I will tell you what Present Continuous time is, I will explain the nuances of the formation and use of this time, and also for clarity, I will give many examples.

What is Present Continuous Tense?

Present Continuous Tense (Present Continuous) is a tense form of a verb that describes an action or state that is going on at the moment of speech. That is, Present Continuous Tense shows actions and states in progress! This is how it differs from the simple present tense (Present Simple Tense).

There is no analogue for Present Continuous Tense in Russian. It provides only one temporary form for the present tense, which expresses both shades of simple and long tense. Let's see this with an example:

• Present continuous: You are speaking Spanish - You speak Spanish. (Meaning you are speaking Spanish at the moment.)

• Present Simple: You speak Spanish. - You speak Spanish. (Meaning you can speak Spanish at all.)

As you can see, in Russian the same form of the verb conveys different shades of the present tense.

Rules for the formation of Present Continuous Tense

The Present Continuous is difficult. It is formed with an auxiliary verb to be in Present Simple Tense (am, are, is) and present participles of the main verb (verb ending -ing).

When forming the present participle (Present Participle), it is important to know the following rules:

• If the verb ends in an unpronounceable -e, then it goes down:

to drive e— driving
to give e- giving

• If the verb ends in a consonant after the stressed syllable, the consonant is doubled:

sit − si tt ing
to stop-sto pp ing
to forget-forge tt ing

• If the verb ends in -l preceded by a vowel, then -l always doubles (in the American version, this rule is not respected).

to travel-trave ll ing
to fulfil - fulfi ll ing

• If the verb ends in -ie, then -ie changes to -y:

to l ie—l y ing
to d ie- d y ing

Formation of the affirmative form:

• subject + to be in Present Simple (am, are, is) + Present Participle of the main verb (V + ing)

Formation of the interrogative form:

• to be in Present Simple (am, are, is) + subject + Present Participle of the main verb (V + ing)

Formation of the negative form:

• subject + to be in Present Simple (am, are, is) + negation of not + Present Participle of the main verb (V + ing)

Conjugation table of the verb to starve in Present Continuous Tense

I advise you to carefully study this table as a cliché, where you will then substitute other verbs.

Not all English verbs are used in the long tense. Verbs that denote desires, thoughts, states, feelings, as a rule, are not used in the Present Continuous form. More detailed list you can find such verbs in the article: Present Simple tense in English

Present Continuous Tense is used:

1. When expressing an action that is happening at the moment (now). Very often in such sentences there are circumstances of time by which the Present Continuous Tense can be accurately determined. For example:

• now - now
• at the moment - at the moment

• Don't you smell something is burning? "Don't you feel that something is on fire?"
• What are you talking about now? - What are you talking about now?

2. When expressing an action or state that lasts in the present tense (the action has already begun and has not yet ended), but not necessarily related to this moment of speech:

• Sorry but I can't lend you this book because I'm reading it myself. — I'm sorry, but I can't lend you this book, because. I'm reading it myself right now.
• I'm studying at the university. - I study at University.

3. When expressing any inclination or permanent habit (usually negative). In such sentences, the verb expresses impatience or disapproval and is often accompanied by adverbs:

• always - always
• constantly - constantly
• all the time - all the time

• She is always coming too late! She always comes too late!
• I'm constantly wearing with my teachers. I constantly argue with my teachers.

4. When expressing actions planned for the near future. In such sentences, verbs of motion are very often used:

• to come - go
• to move - move
• to leave - leave
• to stay - stay
• to return - return
• to start - start

and expressions:

• to have guests - have guests
• to give a party - make a party

• I am giving a birthday party tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm having a birthday party.
• They are leaving us this afternoon. They are leaving us tonight.

Note!

The combination of the verb to go in Present Continuous Tense with the infinitive form of another verb also expresses the intention to perform an action in the near future:

• why are you going to change your flat? Why are you going to change your apartment?
• I'm going to present him to my parents. “Seo is going to introduce him to my parents.

6. When expressing an action that takes place simultaneously with another action expressed in Present Simple Tense. That is, in a subordinate clause of time or condition after conjunctions:

• when - when
• if - if
• in case - in case
• as long as - as long as
• while - while
• unless - if not

• Try not to make a noise when you are playing. − Try not to make noise when you play.

These were the basic rules about Present Continuous Tense. Use and improve English language!
I advise you to watch the following videos on the topic: "Real long tense in English"

If we talk about the popularity of the use of tenses in English, the Simple group will undoubtedly get the first place. However, this group alone will certainly not leave you for London, and therefore it is necessary to expand the possibilities of the language. The second most popular group of tenses, the Continuous group, can perfectly help with this. Like all other groups, it contains past, present and future tenses. Today we will focus on Present Continuous Tense (pronounced as present continius tense) or present continuous tense, having studied how this time is formed.

Present Continuous Tense (also Present Progressive Tense) or the present continuous tense is the time of the English language, which is responsible for actions that occur in the present tense at the moment of speaking.

At the initial stage of language learning, this time is often confused with the time of Present Simple. Yes, both in the first and in the second case, the matter concerns the present, but the difference between these times is colossal. In order not to get into trouble using these tenses, let's take a closer look at the Present Continuous tense in English.

The formation of Present Continuous is based on the use of auxiliary and semantic verbs. The auxiliary verb is to be in the present tense. Depending on the person and number, this time can have 3 forms:

Participle I or present participle is used as a semantic verb. To form the present participle in the active voice, you do not need to separately memorize the rules for regular and irregular verbs. It is enough just to take any verb in the infinitive form, remove the preposition to and add the ending –ing.

When attaching an ending, it is worth considering certain nuances:

• If a word ends in -e, that letter is omitted:

A verb cannot be formed in this way if there are two -e in the word. In this case, the standard rule applies:

• If the word ends in -ie, this combination of letters is replaced with -y:

The exception is words ending in -x and -w, which are not doubled:

If the word ends in the consonant -r, this letter should be doubled if there is no diphthong in front of it:

Doubling the consonant -l at the end is possible if the stress falls on the last syllable, and before -l there is a short vowel:

In British English, -l is doubled even if the stress does not fall on the final syllable.

Note that words that end in -ing are not always present participles. Often nouns and adjectives are expressed in such words:

Present Continuous: sentence forms

Now let's look at how sentences are formed using auxiliary and semantic verbs:

Affirmative Present Continuous

The affirmative form of Present Continuous contains a direct word order. In such a sentence, the auxiliary and semantic verbs come after the subject. Affirmative sentence scheme:

The sentences above are used in the active voice, where the action is performed by the subject. However, sometimes situations arise in which it is necessary to show that the action is directed at the object / person itself. In such cases, a passive voice is used, for the formation of which it is necessary to use three verbs: the same auxiliary verb to be in the present tense, the verb to be in Participle I (being) and the past participle (or Participle II):

Everything is clear with the first two, but the Past Participle has its own characteristics. It contains two forms of education, the choice of which depends on the correctness or irregularity of English verbs. So the past participle with regular verbs is formed by adding the ending -ed. Irregular verbs do not obey this rule: each of them has a single form, so you just need to try to remember such verbs.

In such sentences, the preposition by is often used, which shows who did the action. Examples:

The rule is also preserved for sentences in the passive voice:

The auxiliary verb in the affirmative and negative forms is often abbreviated in speech and writing, similar to the Present Simple tense:

Abbreviating am not in the negative form as amn't is generally not accepted. This form of negation for Present Continuous can be found in Scotland and Ireland.

Interrogative Present Continuous

The interrogative form in Present Continuous time is built based on the type of question:

• General and alternative questions push the auxiliary verb forward before the subject:

This question is answered briefly, using an auxiliary verb:

This question requires a full answer:

When using two or more semantic verbs, the auxiliary verb is used once at the beginning.

• A special question for the Present Continuous must contain an interrogative word that is placed before the auxiliary verb.

A complete answer is also needed here:

A short answer is required here, similar to the answer to the general question:

These were all the rules for the formation of Present Continuous, with which you can easily make a grammatically correct sentence.

Present Continuous: usage

Present Continuous or present continuous tense is used in speech all the time. Consider all cases of using Present Continuous.

1. The present continuous tense in English is used to indicate actions that are going on at the moment of speaking. Often in such a case, the indicator words now (now) and at the moment (at the moment) are used:

Do not confuse Present Simple and Continuous:

1. Present Continuous Tense is also used when talking about actions that are happening now, but not specifically at this moment.

1. The use of Present Continuous is possible with adverbs always / constantly (constantly), again and again (every now), all the time (all the time). Such sentences differ from Present Simple sentences in that they tend to imply the speaker's annoyance about some habit. As a Russian analogue, adverbs here can act in the sense of “always doing something”:

1. The use of Present Continuous Tense is possible in cases where the speaker knows or assumes that the action will not last long. In such sentences there are words for / during (during), until / till (until / until).

The second part of the sentence in this construction is usually used in Present Simple.

1. The Present Continuous is used when talking about planned actions in the future. Preference for this time in this case can be given only when the action is definitely decided to be carried out. Sentences may contain satellite words: tonight (tonight), today (today), tomorrow (tomorrow), the day after tomorrow (the day after tomorrow), this (next) week / month / year (this (next) week / month / year).

The translation of such constructions is usually carried out in the present tense, although, in fact, nothing changes from this even in Russian: it is clear that the action is not taking place now.

1. The present continuous tense in English is also used to express actions that will take place in the near future, using verbs of motion. These include: go (go), come (come), leave (leave), move (move), take off (take off), land (land), return (return), move (move).

The translation is also in the present tense, although the future is implied.

1. Present Continuous or Progressive Tense is used when talking about actions that change gradually. Often for this case, words in English are used that imply this change: change (change), increase (increase), decrease (decrease), improve (improve), rise (rise), grow (grow), fall (fall), begin / start (begin), become / get (become):

1. Present Continuous is used when emphasis is placed on the unusual behavior of a person that is not observed for him:

1. However, the above cases do not always apply. So, for example, exceptions to the rules in Present Continuous Tense are state verbs or state verbs, with which Continuous time cannot be used, since they themselves imply action. Such an action is usually not visible to the eye. These include verbs that are responsible for:

• emotions (love - love, hate - hate, adore - adore, respect - respect);
• processes of mental activity (think - to think, believe - to believe, assume - to believe);
• perception (feel - feel, hear - hear, see - see, notice - notice);
• ownership rights (have - to have, belong - to belong, possess - to possess, own - to own);
• desires (wish - to dream, want - to want, desire - to wish);
• another (succeed - to succeed, need - to need, find - to search, fail - to fail).

These verbs use Present Simple tense.

However, there are certain situations where the stative verb can be used as an ongoing one. This is possible if:

• a word from the list of state verbs has one more meaning:
• see (see) can be used in the meaning of "meet" or "inspect":

• appear (seem) in the meaning of "perform on stage":

• have in set expressions

1. Present Continuous is also used to contrast something new with something old:

1. The Present Continuous tense is used in subordinate clauses to show that one action continues during another. For this, Present Continuous is used in the subordinate part, and Present Simple is used in the main part. In such constructions, the words when (when), if (if), in case (in case), as long as (yet), unless (yet) are often found:

• In order to show one long action against the background of another, the union while (while) can be used, expressing the adverbial clauses of time. Both parts use Present Continuous time:

Today we studied what Present Continuous is and in what situations it is used. The grammar of the Present Continuous is not very difficult, so you will quickly master this tense by practicing all the mentioned use cases.

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Present Continuous Tense (pronounced: present continuous tense) is the present continuous tense, it is also called Present Progressive (pronounced: present progressive). This is predominantly indicating the action that takes place at the moment of speech. But also Present Continuous can talk about action in the future.

Education Present Continuous (Present Progressive)

The formation of all tenses of the English language is quite similar. Some parts of speech are taken, put into the necessary forms and connected to each other. To form the Present Continuous tense form, you need to take the auxiliary verb to be in the present tense, add the participle of the semantic verb in the present tense to it.

to be + verb + ending -ing:

I tremble - I am trembling - I'm trembling.
You tremble - You are trembling - You are trembling.
We tremble - We are trembling - We are trembling.
He / she / it trembles - He / she / it is trembling - He / she / it trembles.
They tremble - They are trembling - They tremble.

Negative sentences in Present Continuous

To get a negative sentence in the present continuous tense, it is necessary to modify the original affirmative sentence. Between to be and the verb you need to put a negative particle not:

Statement: Now he is trying to get back his children - Now he is trying to get his children back.
Negation: Now he is not trying to get back his children - Now he is not trying to get his children back.

Statement: Jack and Lucy are choosing a new TV - Jack and Lucy are choosing a new TV.
Negation: Jack and Lucy are not choosing a new TV - Jack and Lucy are not choosing a new TV.

Negative sentence word order

Subject + to be + not + action verb + rest of sentence

Steven Spielberg is not making new film - Steven Spielberg is not making a new film.

Interrogative sentences in Present Continuous

In order for a question to be formed in the present continuous tense, it is necessary to change the sentence in the affirmative form. To do this, you need to swap the subject and the auxiliary verb to be:

Are they listening progressive rock? Do they listen to progressive rock?
Is he looking at me right now? Is he looking at me right now?
Are we buying a new knife this Sunday? Are we buying a new knife this Sunday?

Interrogative sentence word order

To be + Subject + Action verb + Rest of the sentence

Are they cooking Italian food? Do they cook Italian food?

The verb to be in Present Continuous

The verb to be in Present Continuous does not always have the same form. It can change depending on the face change. In accordance with the change of persons, the verb to be in Present Continuous tense will have three forms:

Am- 1 person, unit hours - I am thinking- I think.
Is- 3rd person, unit. hours - He is walking- He walks.
Are- 2 person unit. hours and all plural forms - They are waiting- They are waiting.

Using Present Continuous

The rules for using Present Continuous are simple - the present continuous in English is usually used in specific cases: when some action is relevant at the time of speech, when it began before the moment of speech and lasts after, when it comes to something temporary, some kind of development or changes, etc. We have prepared for you examples of using the present continuous tense in each case.

The action is relevant at the moment of speaking:

I am listening to the news - I am listening to the news.
You are washing your clothes - You wash your clothes.
Who is Bob talking to on the phone? Who is Bob talking to on the phone?
Look, he is trying to steal that man's pen - Look, he is trying to steal a pen from that man.

The action began before the moment of speech and continues after:

At noon we are usually having brunch - At noon we usually eat brunch.
When she get home the children are doing their homework - When she came home, the children were doing their homework.
I am learning all that stupid tenses!
I am reading the book Moby Dick - I am reading the book Moby Dick.

It's about something temporary.

I'm looking for a blue beach house - I'm looking for a blue beach house.
She's thinking about leaving her parent's house - She is thinking about leaving her parents' house.
Are you eating enough food? – Are you eating enough?

We are talking about something new that is compared with the previous one:

These days children are using smartphones instead of reading books - These days children use smartphones instead of reading books.

It is about development, changes:

The puppies are growing quickly, I think their size would be doubling every week! – The puppies are growing fast, I think their size will double every week!.
His Spanish is improving - His Spanish is getting better.

The action happens again and again for a long period:

Ann is always coming to work late - She is constantly late for work.
I don’t like her because she is always complaining - I don’t like her because she constantly complains.

It's about a plan to do something in the future:

Oscar is going to a new town next week - Oscar is moving to another city next week.
What is Jane doing after work? What does Jane do after work?
I am not going to the cinema tonight - I will not go to the cinema today.
Isn't they coming with you tonight? “Won’t they come with you today?”

Verbs not used in Present Continuous

Each tense of the English language has such verbs that cannot be used in this tense. And the Present Continuous is no exception. We have prepared for you a list of verbs that are not used in the present continuous tense.

Feelings/perception

to hear - to hear
to feel - to feel
to see - see
to taste - to feel the taste
to smell - to smell

Opinions

to believe - to believe
to assume - agree
to consider - to believe
to feel (= to think) - to feel (= to think)
to doubt - to doubt
to find (= to consider)
to suppose - to believe
to think - to think

Thinking

to imagine - represent
to know - to know
to forget - forget
to mean - keep in mind
to notice - notice
to remember - remember
to recognize - to recognize
to understand - understand

Emotions/Desires

to envy - to envy
to dislike - dislike
to hate - to hate
to fear - to be afraid
to hope - hope
to love - to love
to like - like
to mind - remember
to regret - regret
to want - want
to prefer - prefer
to wish - wish

measurements

to contain - contain
to hold - keep
to measure - measure
to cost - cost
to weigh - weigh

Other

To look - in the meaning of "to have a resemblance"
to be - to be
to seem - look
to have - in the meaning of "possess something"

Video about Present Continuous

Good afternoon friends! Today, I and my English teacher, Ekaterina, would like to discuss with you the topic “The present continuous tense in English” - The Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense. On the example of this grammatical concept, it is easy to imagine how much time is valued in Great Britain, the birthplace of British.

From this article you will learn:

General rule

In Russian, this is the usual present tense, like English. There is no difference in the translation of the verbs.

When to apply - it is clear how the predicate changes in such expressions? Consider the affirmative, interrogative and negative statements and analyze examples.

We observe and tell

The declarative statements in the grammatical structure under consideration, as usual, have a clear structure:

Subject + predicate + secondary members

Read carefully the conjugations given in the table:

What did you notice when analyzing the examples by the members of the sentence? Of course, in them the predicate consists of two verbs at the same time! Now it remains to remember that am / is / are are forms of the auxiliary verb to be. See how simple it is:

man + to be + Ving + everything else

Let's practice

Let's try to do a simple exercise: I offer you a set of words, and your task is to make sentences out of them in Present Progressive. The word order will be changed and am/is/are and the ending ing will be added. Use the diagrams and examples we have already covered.

Ready? Let's start:

1. Do, my son, now, homework, his.
2. Dinner, at the moment, cook, I.
3. My friends, film, an interesting, now, watch.
4. Check if you got it right:
5. My son is doing his homework now.
6. I am cooking dinner at the moment.
7. My friends are watching an interesting film now.

What is happening now?

Of course, you remember that in order to ask a question, you need to put an assistant verb at the beginning of the sentence before the subject. This rule is also preserved for Present Continuous. We have already found assistants, this is am/is/are. Here we will move them to the beginning:

Are you walking in the street at the moment?
Is she playing the piano now?

Dealt with questions. Here it is worth clarifying that it is customary to answer them briefly:

Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.
Yes, she is. / No, she is not.
Yes, we are. / No, we are not.

The pattern is easy to see, we act according to the rules and nothing more.

No, no, what are you!

Negative expressions do not differ at all from affirmative ones, you just need to add not after the helpers:

I'm not reading now.
look! He is not (isn't) writing.
They are not (aren't) watching TV.

Whatever the expression, the ing ending of the word denoting action does not disappear anywhere.

Now you can easily use The Present Progressive time, it remains only to practice exercises with native speakers in the courses, and you can safely go on a trip to Europe!

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I was with you, Natalya Glukhova, I wish you a good day!

Life is running, and sometimes we do not notice the events taking place around us. The English, in order to pay a little attention to the beautiful seconds of the present, use the Present Continuous Tense.

What is the present continuous tense and why is it used? Maybe many will be surprised, but in the Russian language there are also long tenses, it’s just that grammar doesn’t distinguish them, because we already understand the difference between “walks” and “goes”, “came” and “walked”. Changing suffixes, prefixes and even the root itself seems natural to us, just like the use of auxiliary verbs by the English. Present Progressive (Continuous) helps to convey the duration of the process, that it is happening at the moment.

Comparison of present tenses

To make it easier to understand, consider some examples:

The main difference between these tenses is in the display of the action. If the first simply states a fact, says that there is, then a long or Continuous reveals in detail how this action proceeds.

Education

The Present Continuous rules are pretty easy to remember. To do this, you need to remember the conjugation of the verb to be in the present tense and form the first participle form (Participle 1) or, in other words, the verb with the ending -ing. It may sound a bit confusing, but it's actually easy. Consider the example of the verb to work:

TO BE (AM, IS, ARE) + Ving

What does this diagram mean? So, with the pronoun "I" the form "am" is used. We substitute “is” for “she, he, it”, but with all the rest (you, we, they) - are. After the auxiliary verbs, we put the predicate with the ending ing.

I am working now. - I am working now.

She (He, It) is working now. - She's working now.

They (You, We) are working now. - They are working now.

English grammar Present Continuous (Progressive) tense says that this tense can be used in various sentences not only in meaning, but also in type: narrative, negative and interrogative. Of all tenses, the rules for the Present Continuous in this case are the easiest: either add a “not” particle, or swap the subject and auxiliary verb.

Subject + to be + Ving + minor members (affirmative sentence).
Subject + to be + not + Ving + secondary members (negative sentence).
To be + subject + Ving + secondary members (interrogative sentence)?

I am writing a letter right now.
I am not reading a book now.
Are you cooking dinner now?

Of course, despite the simplicity of the formation of forms, the grammar of the present continius is complicated by some nuances: writing features with the ending -ing.

1. If the verb ends in "e", and before it is a consonant, then this letter disappears: use-using, manage - managing. But: dye - dyeing.
2. Letter "l" doubles at the end of a word: travel - travelling.
3. But "at", despite previous consonants or vowels, is retained (in some English rules changes, but not in the verb): stay - staying, study - studying.
4. The consonant doubles after a short stressed syllable: stop - stopping, sit - sitting. And, if at the end of the word there is a stressed syllable " -er, - ur ": occur - occuring, prefer - preferring. That is why it is so important to get to know stressed and unstressed syllables.
5. "ie" changes to "y» at the end of the verb: die - dying.

Another difficulty is caused by verbs that are not used in the form of a long time. You will find all the details in the article.

Use

There are several uses of this tense in sentences and speech. How and why to use Continuous, you will learn from the following rules.

• To express an action that takes place right now, at the moment of the conversation. Such sentences are often followed by now, at (the) present moment, at this moment, Look! Listen! right now, just now.

What are you doing? — I am cooking now. Come and have supper with us. - What are you doing? I'm cooking now. Come join us for dinner.

• Some sentences emphasizing action in the present moment can be expressed parallel. So, to tell that the action is happening now, it lasts, unions such as while, when, as help:

I am reading a book while children are playing in their room. I am reading a book while the children are playing in the room.

• Present Continuous is used to express actions that take a slightly longer segment, but emphasizes that the action does not happen constantly, but that it lasts. some period. The following hints can be used here: still, the whole moning (evening, night), all day.

I am reading the novel by K. Smirnov. - I am reading a novel by K. Smirnov (the action is extended in time).
She is cooking the whole day. She cooks all day.
It is raining all day. - It has been raining all day.
Don't bother him! He is still sleeping. - Don't bother him! He is still sleeping.

• If we are something planned for the near future, then it is better to express your plans in the present continuous. Here, there must be hints in the sentence so as not to confuse Present and Future. It can be either tonight, tommorow, or verbs of motion. But the construction to be going to is most often used, which translates as "I'm going, I intend":

Are you doing anything tonight? - Are you doing anything tonight?
I am going to buy a new TV set. — I'm going to buy a new TV.

• Well, proposals are especially difficult reproach, irritation, condemnation and indignation. Usually everything is accompanied by emotional coloring and adverbs always, too often, constantly, never again. All this is a Present Simple pointer (it speaks of an ordinary event, fact), so look inside the sentence, text, meaning, so as not to confuse. Compare:

He is always going away for weekends. He's always away for the weekend.
He always goes away for weekends. He always goes away for the weekend.

• If the action is constantly changing, developing, wearing dynamic nature, then choose Present Continuous:

His handwriting is improving. He writes better and better.
Fitness is becoming a generally accepted principle of life. “Fitness is becoming an accepted principle of life.

Of course, at first you need to often look at the rules for the present continuum or at the table. But nothing, over time everything will be simpler, clearer and easier.