Present Progressive

English 3
 Autoridades
Dra. Margarita Teresa de Jesús García Gasca
Rectora
Dr. Javier Ávila Morales
Secretario Académico
M. en E.D. Jaime Nieves Medrano
Director de la Escuela de Bachilleres
M. en C. Rita Ochoa Cruz
Secretaria Académica de la EBA
M. en C. Lucero Canto Guerrero
Coordinadora del Plantel Sur
M. en C. Edgar Ulloa Hernández
Coordinador del Plantel Norte
Dra. Cypatly Rojas Miranda
Coordinadora del Plantel San Juan del Río
Lic. María Patricia Pérez Velázquez
Coordinadora del Plantel Colón
M. en D. Antonio Pérez Martínez
Coordinador del Plantel Pedro Escobedo
C.P. Gloria Inés Rendón García
Coordinadora del Plantel Pinal de Amoles
M. en A. Óscar Uriel Cárdenas Rosas
Coordinador del Plantel Bicentenario
M. en LIT. José Cupertino Ramírez Zúñiga
Coordinador del Plantel Amazcala
Ing. Juan Fernando Rocha Mier
Coordinador del Plantel Concá
M. en A. Hugo Enrique Suárez Camacho
Coordinador del Plantel Jalpan
Mtra. María de la Luz Ruiz Maqueda
Coordinadora del Plantel Amealco
M. en A. José Antonio Cárdenas Rosas
Coordinador del Bachillerato Semiescolarizado
 Autores
Gabriela Patricia Cinta Collado

Indira Perusquía de Carlos

 Hello there!

During this week, we are going to study the Present Progressive or Continuous
tense. In this document you will find some information, examples and some
exercises to practice it.

Don’t forget, if you have any questions, write them down in your notebook to ask
your teacher.
Look at the following sentences, Do they have something similar?

It is raining in Mexico city.

The wind is blowing

strongly.
• If we analyze the sentences, we can see that they are formed by the verb to be
in the present form and another verb which is in the present participle form
(ing).

It is raining in Mexico city.

The wind is blowing strongly.

These two sentences are expressed in the Present Progressive or Continuous

Tense.
 Present Progressive/Continuous
Grammar Reference
• The present progressive is used for actions going on in the moment
of speaking and for actions taking place only for a short period of time
(temporary actions). It is also used to express development and actions
that are arranged for the near future.
• Present progressive is also known as present continuous.

Figure 1: Present progressive

Affirmative Form
• The present progressive is formed by combining the verb “to be” with the present
participle. (The present participle is merely the “-ing” form of a verb).

Table 1: Affirmative form

Present Progressive Tense

Affirmative
Subject Verb to be Verb –ing
I am (‘m) studying.
You, we, they are (‘re) studying.
He, she, it is (‘s) studying.
Examples

We are cooking dinner. Betty is working in a

supermarket for the summer.

**An action happening now.** **A temporary action.**

Spelling of Verbs Ending in –ing
In general, it is mentioned that we only add –ing at the end of the verb, however,
you have to follow the next spelling rules:

1. Consonant + e = drop the –e add –ing = write – writing

2. Consonant + vowel + consonant (one syllable) = double the
consonant, add –ing = sit-sitting
**exception: verbs that end in –w, -x, and –y = fix- fixing
3. -ie = change –ie to y, add –ing = die- dying
4. All other verbs = add –ing to the base form of verb = talk- talking
Exercise 1
Search the song “Lemon Tree”
by ‘Fool’s Garden’ from any
app to listen to music or watch
the video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=wCQfkEkePx8).
Then, fill in the blanks with the
present progressive tense in the
affirmative form.

Follow the rules and be careful

using the –ing form!
Negative Form.
We form negative sentences in the Present Progressive by adding ‘not’ after the verb
to be.
Table 2: Negative form

Present Progressive Tense

Negative
Subject Verb to be + not Verb –ing
I am not studying.
You, we, they are not (aren’t) studying.
He, she, it is not (isn’t) studying.
Examples

I am not working. I’m resting. She isn’t playing. She’s watering

the plants.
 Vocabulary
The Weather
What’s the weather like today?

Figure 1: The weather vocabulary

Retrieved from:
https://www.eslbuzz.com
/weather-vocabulary-
whats-the-weather-like-
in-your-country/
 Vocabulary
The Weather

Examples

It’s raining. The girl is not playing outside. It’s snowing but he isn’t making a
snowman.
Exercise 2
Look at the picture
and in your notebook
write 3 affirmative
and 3 negative
sentences describing
what is/is not
happening. Include
some sentences to
talk about the
weather.
Questions
Remember that there are two types of questions in English: yes/no questions
and information questions (wh-questions). In this section, we are going to
study how to formulate questions in the Present Progressive Tense.

Table 3: Yes/no questions

Yes/no questions
Verb to be Subject Verb –ing
Am I studying?
Are you/we/they studying?
Is he/she/it studying?
Questions
Table 4: Wh-questions

Wh-questions
Wh word Verb to be Subject Verb –ing
What am I studying?
Where are you/we/they studying?
Why is he/she/it studying?

Wh-questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Some typical wh-
words are: what, where, when, which, why, who, how. To formulate a wh-question we have to
start with the wh-word, then add the verb to be (am, is, are), then the subject, followed by the –
ing form of the verb and a complement if it’s needed.
Examples
Are you watching a movie?
Yes, I am.
No, I am not.

What is he doing?
He’s listening to music.
Exercise 3
Use the next information to write questions in the present progressive tense.
1. Robin /ride / his bike? 10. Alex/ do/ his homework?
2. Where / she / go?
3. What / your mother / do ?
4. John and Megan/ eat?
5. it/ rain ?
6. you/ have fun/ these days?
7. What/ Jack/ do/ in the yard?
8. your brother/ take photos/ now?
9. they/ sleep/ right now?
Time expressions used with the present progressive.
Time expression Example
Right now The baby is sleeping right now.
Now I’m not eating now.
At the moment/ at present My mom is cooking at the moment.
Zoe is taking care of her neighbors’ dogs at
present.
Today We are not working today.
This Karla is having a party this evening.
evening/week/month/year,
etc.
These days I am not doing exercise these days.
 Time expressions
These time expressions have the following basic positions:

1. At the end of a sentence.

E.g. He is living in an apartment at the moment.

2. At the beginning of the sentence to make emphasis on the time. In

this position, it must be followed by a comma (,).
E.g. Right now, we are watching the news on TV.
 Time expressions
Time expressions can be used with affirmative, negative and
interrogative sentences.

Sara isn’t studying Biology this year. Are you watching a series these days? It’s raining cats and dogs now.
 Exercise 4
1. Read the texts about
Sam’s mistake and
put them in order.

1. Answer: What is ,
Sam’s mistake?
 Did you have problems answering the exercises?
• If you still need more information, you can check the next video on
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUqXvEbRpWw

Have an excellent day!

 References
• English Grammar Online. Present Progressive- Introduction. Disponible en:
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/present-progressive

• Evans, V., Dooley, J. (2009). Upload 3 US Student Book and Workbook. USA:
Express Publishing.

• Fool’s Garden. (1995). Lemon Tree [song]. Dish of the Day.

• Milner, M. (2010). World English 1. USA: Heinle Cengage Learning.