Present Continuous Tense:
Definition, Useful Rules
and Examples
What Is the Present Continuous Tense?
The present continuous tense is one which is commonly used within the
English language and often uses the -ing form of a verb, for example
‘she is running.’ We can see that the sentence is
happening continuously in the present moment.
The present continuous verb tense, also known as the present
progressive, is used to describe an action that is currently
happening or may happen in the future.
The present continuous tense is typically used for the following
four general cases:
1. To describe events that are happening at the current time
2. To discuss an event that is temporary in nature, will
continue into the future, but end at a particular time
3. To list future plans
4. To describe a new pattern or a habit
This verb tense is formed with a variant of the verb to be + the
present participle (verb form ending in -ing). These verbs can
also take adverb modifiers to talk about an activity that is
continuing into some future time (e.g. in one hour’, this Fall’).
Additionally, present continuous verb forms are most commonly
going to be found in the wild using dynamic verbs’ that describe:
an activity (e.g. learn, listen, read)
a process (e.g. change, grow, shrink)
a bodily sensation (e.g. ache, feel, hurt)
a transitional event (e.g. arrive, leave)
a momentary occurrence (e.g. hit, jump, kick).
The other type of verb, which is not generally seen with present
continuous verb forms, is known as stative, and the reason it is
not used here is that stative verbs describe actions that are
done and over with and do not continue into the future at all
(e.g. astonish, see, smell).
In the next section are ten examples to demonstrate the various
use cases described above. After that are several exercises to
provide practice identifying the different forms of the present
continuous verb tense. As always, a good way to continually
reinforce this information is to try and identify this type of verb
while reading and always, always, always keep a dictionary or
google search window handy.
Present Continuous Tense Structure
The present continuous (also the present progressive) is one
of the present tenses used in modern English.
Basically, the Present progressive tense is formed by adding -
ing to the base verb.
The structure of the Present Continuous Tense is:
S + am/is/are (not) + V-ing +….
Examples:
He is playing.
She isn’t cooking.
Am/is/are + S + V-ing +…?
Example:
Am I annoying you? (which is to ask whether I am annoying
you.)
Examples of the Present Continuous
Tense
1. My daughter’s class is currently attending a lecture on the
solar system at the planetarium.
2. The driver is stopping at the gas station for a moment to fill
up the tank and then will proceed to the next town for
lunch.
3. You need to prepare an agenda before your next class
because you are keeping the students two minutes late
every time lately.
4. My company is holding face to face meetings a lot less
than they used to in favor of video calls.
5. When my vacation starts, my family and I are flying to
Hawaii to relax on the beach.
6. The movie is starting in the next thirty minutes so we have
to leave very shortly.
7. Whenever the cat is playing with a ribbon, she starts
jumping back and forth like her hunter forbears.
8. I am going to fly back and forth between Detroit and
Atlanta twice a month from now on as part of my
promotion.
9. I hate to say it, but my kids are giving me the worst
migraine right now with all their screaming!
10. The fog is slowly lifting which will make my drive to
work much less dangerous.
How to Use the Present
Continuous
The present progressive is used:
1. To describe something which is happening at the exact
moment of speech.
Example:
Jim is watching television at the moment.
2. To describe an action that is taking place now but not
at the exact moment of speech.
Example:
John is working in London.
3. To describe an event planned in the future.
Example:
I’m taking my French class on Tuesday.
4. To describe a temporary situation.
Example:
I’m staying with a friend for a few days.
5. To emphasize the frequency of an action.
Example:
That child is always crying for no good reason.
6. To describe changing situations.
Example:
Her health is improving by leaps and bounds.