The Present Continuous tense.

FORM: V. Be (present) + the present participle of the main verb.

Auxiliary be + verb + Ing

Examples: + She is talking to her friends.

_ They aren’t sleeping at the moment.

? Are you watching TV now?

When to use it?

As with all tenses in English, the speaker's attitude is as important as the time of the action or
event. When someone uses the present continuous, he is thinking about something that is
unfinished or incomplete.

1) To describe an action that is occurring\ happening at this moment: (around the time of
speaking)

Examples: -You are using the Internet at the moment.

-Pete is doing the dishes now.

2) For longer actions in process now.

Examples: - I am studying to become a doctor.

- Anne is reading a book for Jane Austin.

- He isn’t working on his science project.
 - Are you learning Spanish?
3) To describe an action or event in the near future. (An arrangement)

Examples: -We're going on holiday tomorrow morning.

- I'm meeting my boyfriend tonight at 8 o’clock.

- Are they visiting you next winter?

4) To describe a temporary event or situation:

Examples: -He usually plays the drums, but he's playing bass guitar tonight.

-The weather forecast was good, but it's raining at the moment.

5) To describe a picture.

Examples: - The man is wearing a hat in the picture.

Signal/ key words: Now, right now, at the moment, look, listen, today, tonight, this+day of the
week, this morning.

BE CAREFUL!

Some verbs are not usually used in the continuous form (but they can be gerunds). We call them
the NON- CONTINUOUS or STATIVE verbs.

Accept Like Agree

Forget Love Need

Dare Hate Understand

Know Hear Want

Remember Feel Admit

Taste Wish Be

Smell Hope

Exceptions:

• Think: believe – I think you’re beautiful/ I’m thinking of my kids.

• See: with eyes_ I see you walking/ I’m seeing my friend this evening .
• Have: possess _ I have 200$/ I’m having lunch with some friends
• Look: you look tired/ I’m looking at you.

How to add -ing to verbs?

1- We usually add –ing to most verbs.

walk - walking
ski - skiing

2- If a verb ends in –e drop the –e and add –ing

dance - dancing
wave - waving

Exception: Be - Being

3- If a verb ends In–ee just add –ing

agree - agreeing
see - seeing

4- If a verb ends in ie, we change the ie into y + -ing

Lie - lying
Die - Dying
Tie - Tying
 5- If a verb ends in –cvc

a) If it is formed out of 1 syllable double -c add –ing

shop - shopping
run - running
swim - swimming
b) If it is formed out of 2 syllables or more

-When the first syllable is stressed just add –ing

visit - visiting
open - Opening exit - exiting
listen - listening
offer - offering
answer - answering
water watering
enter entering
verbs ending in x or w y. fix _→fixing

-When the second syllable is stressed double –consonant add –ing

begin - beginning
admit - admitting

Extra practice:
I- Fill in the blanks with the present continuous form of the verbs in brackets:

1. Celine, look! Your brother (climb) __________________ on the tree.

2. Mia (play) ________________ the piano right now.
3. Paul and Dan (not/ watch) __________________ T.V. at the living room at the
moment.
4. I (study) _______________ English now.
 5. He (walk) _______________ the dog and (talk) _________________ on the
phone.
6. We (prepare) ________________ a play about global warming.
7. She (read) _________________ a book for Khaled Hosseini.
8. I usually travel to Europe on vacation, but this year, I (visit) ______________
China.
9. I (love) ________________ English classes.

II- Put the verbs in the present simple or present continuous:

1. Monique (not/speak) ____________________Spanish. She only knows French

and English.
2. You (lie) _______________________ to me, Ralph! Tell me the truth!
3. ____________________________ (you/travel/usually) to Europe on holidays?
4. Linda (watch/never) ______________________ horror movies. She gets
frightened easily.
5. A: __________________________ (you/eat/sometimes) sushi?
B: __________________________ (No)
6. Listen! He (play) ____________________ the guitar. I thought he hates music.
7. __________________________ (Paul and Hugo/ ride) that bicycle at this
moment?
8. A: _________________________(have) lunch, Lea?
B: _________________________ (Yes)
9. Please give me a moment. I (talk) ________________________ on the phone and I
can’t hang up now.
10. The dishwasher (not/work) _________________________. Can you repair it?
11. I (run/sometimes) ___________________________ but I (feel)
_______________________ tired right now.
12. ___________________________ (Billy/work) in the supermarket?