Present Continuous: statements

 

Present Continuous is a present tense. We use Present Continuous to say what we are doing now:

• I am reading a book.
• Antony is speaking.
• I am listening.

 

To make Present Continuous, we use am/is/are + the “-ing” form of the verb:

 

Singular	Plural
I am working You are working He/she/it is working	We are working You are working They are working

 

Note: The verb ‘be’ (am/is/are) can be contracted: I’m cooking right now. He’s reading a book at the moment. We’re going to the cinema tonight.

 

Spelling rules for verbs when adding ‘-ing’:

1. For verbs with silent ‘-e’ at the end, change ‘-e’ to ‘-ing’:

• to choose → choosing
• to glide → gliding

2. For verbs with ‘-ie’ at the end, change ‘-ie’ to ‘-ying’:

• to tie → tying
• to lie → lying

3. For verbs with consonant + vowel + consonant at the end and final syllable stressed, double the last consonant (except for ‘-x’ and ‘-w’) and add ‘-ing’:

• to for’get → forgetting
• to ‘swim → swimming

In Present Continuous we usually use the words like now, at the moment, right/just now, etc.

 

Note: We don’t normally use the following verbs in the Present Continuous   Like   Love    Hate    Want    Know

• I don’t like westerns.

NOT: I’m not liking westers.

• He knows Amsterdam well.

NOT: He’s knowing Amsterdam well.

 

Common usage cases

 

1) action taking place at the time of speaking:

• I am reading a book at the moment.

 

2) action taking place during present period:

• Some friends of mine are building their own house. They hope to finish it next summer.

 

3) a planned action in the near future:

• We are going to the cinema in 20 minutes.

 

4) describing personal traits or habits, usually with a negative meaning:

• He is always shouting at me.

 

5) describing changes or trends taking place in present:

• The population of the world is increasing very fast.