PRESENT TENSE PROGRESSIVE

Form:
to be (present tense) + -ing

to drink
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I am (I’m) drinking I am am I drinking?
he/she/it is (it’s) drinking he/she/it is (isn’t) is he/she/it drinking?
we we are we drinking?
you are (you’re) drinking you are not (aren’t) drinking are you drinking?
they they are they drinking?

Examples:
He is talking on the phone.
Is it raining?
What are you doing now?
They are not leaving tomorrow.

Use:

1. For actions in progress: He’s having a meeting right now.

2. For a temporary state: They’re living in Brussels this year.
3. For future arrangements: They are coming to visit our company next month.
4. To show a transition between two states or positions: The plane is landing at 11.30
5. Where always means “very often” or “too often”: The boss is always giving me homework.

Note:
Several groups of verbs are not normally used in the progressive aspect:
• verbs showing feelings and emotions such as: like, love, adore, mind, hate, fear;
• verbs of thinking and believing such as: think, understand, know, mean, recognize,
remember, remind;
• verbs showing wishes: want, wish, prefer;
• verbs of perception: hear, see, smell, feel, notice, observe;
• verbs of relation: be, appear, seem, consist of, belong, include, need, possess, etc.