Present Continuous Affirmative
Present Continuous tense, also known as Present Progressive is used to talk about what we are doing. It uses the Verb To Be (present tense) as an auxiliary verb and also the Main Verb in Present Participle (verb-ing) form:
Subject + am/is/are + verb-ing…
Mostly, when we speak in Present Continuous form, it’s to express what we are doing at that moment:
1st Person Singular: I am waiting for you.
2nd Person Singular: You are reading this sentence.
3rd Person Singular: She is running into the sea.
1st Person Plural: We are studying English
2nd Person Plural: You are looking for the wrong book.
3rd Person Plural: They are walking to school.
You can contract the Subject and Verb to Be, which is very useful in spoken English:
1st Person Singular: I’m waiting for you.
2nd Person Singular: You’re reading this sentence.
3rd Person Singular: She’s running into the sea.
1st Person Plural: We’re studying English
2nd Person Plural: You’re looking for the wrong book.
3rd Person Plural: They’re walking to school.
Present Continuous for future plans
Sometimes Present Continuous tense can be used for the future, when we talk about plans we’ve made.
1st Person Singular: I am spending Christmas with my mom and dad.
2nd Person Singular: You are flying to Dallas tomorrow.
3rd Person Singular: She is running the Boston Marathon on Sunday.
1st Person Plural: We are taking the English exam on Wednesday.
2nd Person Plural: You are attending the meeting on Friday.
3rd Person Plural: They are looking forward to seeing us.
*Notice how they all have a future time reference unless the time is known.
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Present Continuous Negative
To make Present Continuous negative, we simply add a not after am/is/are and before the main verb-ing.
1st Person Singular: I am not reading that book.
2nd Person Singular: You are not running quickly.
3rd Person Singular: She is not waiting any longer.
1st Person Plural: We are not walking the dog.
2nd Person Plural: You are not studying math.
3rd Person Plural: They are not eating pizza.
You can contract with the subject and be, and with all persons except 1st person singular you can contract with the be and not:
1st Person Singular: I’m not reading…
2nd Person Singular: You’re not running… You aren’t running…
3rd Person Singular: She’s not waiting… She isn’t waiting…
1st Person Plural: We’re not walking… We aren’t walking…
2nd Person Plural: You’re not studying… You aren’t studying…
3rd Person Plural: They’re not eating… They aren’t eating…
Present Continuous Questions
To form Yes/No questions, we switch the Verb To Be and Subject order. Every Yes/No question in Present Continuous will begin with the Verb To Be:
Am/Is/Are + subject + main verb (verb-ing)…?
1st Person Singular: Am I reading this book?
2nd Person Singular: Are you working tomorrow?
3rd Person Singular: Is she waiting for you?
1st Person Plural: Are we driving there?
2nd Person Plural: Are you eating my chocolates?
3rd Person Plural: Are they getting their results tomorrow?
Information Questions
Information questions are constructed the same way, but with the Information word at the beginning:
Info word + am/is/are + subject + main verb-ing
The main Information words:
Who
What
Where
When
Why
Which
How
1st Person Singular: Who am I studying with tomorrow?
2nd Person Singular: Where are you working next week?
3rd Person Singular: Why is she waiting for you?
1st Person Plural: How are we driving there?
2nd Person Plural: What are you eating?
3rd Person Plural: When are they getting their results?