Level: beginner
The present continuous is made from the present tense of the verb be and the –ing form of a verb:
| I am | working |
| You are | playing |
| He is | talking |
| She is | living |
| It is | eating |
| We are | staying |
| They are | sleeping |
We use the present continuous to talk about:
- activities at the moment of speaking:
I'm just leaving work. I'll be home in an hour.
Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.
- Present continuous 1
- Present continuous 2
- future plans or arrangements:
Mary is going to a new school next term.
What are you doing next week?
- Present continuous 3
-
Plans for next month
2nd (Sat.) – my birthday. Party!
4th – day off
10th (Sun.) – flight OS462 15.40
11th, 12th, 13th – conference, Vienna
15th – dentist 3 p.m.
22nd – Mum & Dad arrive, evening
23rd – Toni's Restaurant (make reservation!)
25th – Mum & Dad > home
29th – payday - Present continuous 4
Present continuous questions
We make questions by putting am, is or are in front of the subject:
Are you listening?
Are they coming to your party?
When is she going home?
What am I doing here?
- Present continuous questions 1
- Present continuous questions 2
Present continuous negatives
We make negatives by putting not (or n't) after am, is or are:
I'm not doing that.
You aren't listening. (or You're not listening.)
They aren't coming to the party. (or They're not coming to the party.)
She isn't going home until Monday. (or She's not going home until Monday.)
- Present continuous negatives 1
- Present continuous negatives 2
Stative verbs
We do not normally use the continuous with stative verbs. Stative verbs include:
- verbs of thinking and feeling:
| believe dislike know like |
love hate prefer realise |
recognise remember suppose think (= believe) |
understand want wish |
- verbs of the senses:
| appear feel |
look seem |
smell sound |
taste |
- others:
| agree be |
belong disagree |
need owe |
own possess |
We normally use the simple instead:
I understand you. (NOT I
am understandingyou.)
This cake tastes wonderful. (NOT This cakeis tastingwonderful.)
Level: intermediate
We also use the present continuous to talk about:
- something which is happening before and after a specific time:
At eight o'clock we are usually having breakfast.
When I get home the children are doing their homework.
- something which we think is temporary:
Michael is at university. He's studying history.
I'm working in London for the next two weeks.
- something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:
These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.
What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowadays?
What sort of music are they listening to?
- something which is changing, growing or developing:
The children are growing up quickly.
The climate is changing rapidly.
Your English is improving.
- something which happens again and again:
It's always raining in London.
They are always arguing.
George is great. He's always laughing.
Note that we normally use always with this use.
- Present continuous 5
Level: advanced
We can use the present continuous to talk about the past when we are:
- telling a story:
The other day I'm just walking down the street when suddenly this man comes up to me and asks me to lend him some money. Well, he's carrying a big stick and he looks a bit dangerous, so I'm wondering what to do …
- summarising a book, film or play:
Harry Potter is a pupil at Hogwarts school. One day when he is playing Quidditch he sees a strange object in the sky. He wonders what is happening …
Hello.
I am trying to see if I understood something. In the example:
--
We also use the present continuous to talk about:
--
We are saying "we are usually having breakfast" and not "we usually have breakfast" because by the time 8 o'clock rolls around we are already eating breakfast, instead of just getting started. Correct?
Hello amru,
Yes, that's right - well done! The present simple (we eat) would describe a habit or typical action, whereas the present continuous describes an event in progress around a certain time, just as you said.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Good morning my teachers! I have a question regarding this use “something which happens again and again” you mentioned this sentences “It's always raining in London.
They are always arguing.
George is great. He's always laughing.” the first two clear a little bit that they are irritating, but what about the last one? I learned that we use present simple for this use. Let me explain my point: I use present continuous for irritating actions (negative sense). I am ok with that. But what about the positive sense? It’s a truth about someone (he always laughs) what is the difference between present continuous and present simple in this use? Another question if you please: can I use the present continuous for any irritating action Regardless of the repetition of the action. for example: My brother come home late once a month and sometimes twice a month (not regular or repeated). But I am irritated with this action, so, can I say (my brother always coming home late)?
Hello khaledAl5,
Please see my reply below which explains this point:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/comment/201410#comment-201410
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello my teacher Peter. I saw the reply, but I didn’t get it well. My question is the difference between present continuous and present simple in the positive use? And the other one can I use the present continuous for any irritating action? The example you referred to basically only happens once a year, so if a person forgets it, it is definitely something permanent. My question is about a recurring action in our daily lives. For example: A student is absent from school one day per month, and this action bothers me. Can I express that using the present continuous tense even though this action is not considered recurring in terms of the number of school days?
Excuse me and Thank you for your patience my teacher.
Hello khaledAI5,
To use the present continuous in this way the action needs to be perceived by the speaker as repetitive and typical or representative in some way. Obviously, this is a subjective call but I would think that something that happens once out of ten occurrences would not meet this criterion. For example, if a student had lessons every day and missed one lesson each month that would not feel typical or repetitive, but if a student had three lessons per month and missed one of them every month that would be suitable. And if it was always the same lesson (say, the lesson on Friday evening) then it would be even more suitable.
As you can see, it's not a black and white rule that we're discussing but rather an expression of a perception.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello teachers! I want to ask about this usage (something which happens again and again) I noticed that many sources say we use this form when expressing annoyance about something someone is doing. But here the definition is different where it is mentioned that we use this form when something happens again and again! Nut I know that this usage can expressed by present simple. So how I use present continuous for something happens again and again!
Hello AboodKh9,
The present (and past) continuous can be used for repeated and representative actions - actions which happen again and again and are representative of a particular characteristic. Often, as you say, these are actions which are irritating:
However, as our example above shows, you can also use the form for more positive actions:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you for your response. Imagine that I am upset about someone’s behavior but he doesn’t always do that irritating action. How can I express that. 1 He always doing that. Or another expression? + can I use for example other adverbs such as (often, sometimes rarely…etc) instead of always, constantly… etc with present continuous. I mean it has to be repeated action to use this form (he is always doing that)? but what about irritating actions that sometimes or rarely happen? It’s ok to use present continuous for any irritating actions even if they sometimes happen? Thank you in advance teacher
Hello again AboodKh9,
For other frequency adverbs we use the present simple. The present continuous is only used for this meaning with a few adverbs - most often always, constantly and forever:
The present continuous in this way does not mean that something happens non-stop. You can use it for even relatively infrequent actions if you consider they are repeated and representative, and usually irritating. For example, anniversaries come once per year but if a person keeps forgetting their wedding anniversary their partner might say this:
Forgetting the anniversary is not a frequent event but the speaker can say this because it is repeated and representative (typical) of the person.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, everyone!
Good vibrations from Rio de Janeiro/Brazil.
I have some questions about what happened when I had a conversation with an English teacher from the USA in June.
I started that conversation with the text below, and I prefer not to mention his name.
I have a question and it has everything to do with “normal verbs”, “non-continuous verbs” and “mixed verbs”.
At minute 2:36, you clearly say “… the language that you are hearing…”
I´ve known that the verb “hear” is a “mixed verb” and that it is not used in the progressive tenses.
She hears the music. (She hears the music with her ears.) (Non-continuous verb)
She is hearing voices. (She hears something others cannot hear. She is hearing voices in her mind.) (Normal verb)
I have heard several Native Speakers, especially from the USA, always treating the verb “hear” as a normal verb, and also treating other verbs, such as “see”, “understand”, “like” and so on, the same way.
I would appreciate your explanation about that. Is it normal for Native Speakers to use these verbs as normal ones? Thanks a lot for answering my question. Good vibrations!
When they say that you can't use stative verbs in continuous tenses, what they mean is that you generally don't use them with continuous tenses unless you specifically need to emphasize that it is temporary.
My question goes to another point.
There are two sentences of yours using the verb “hear” on your video.
#1- That way, you know that the language that “you are hearing” is mostly correct and being spoken the way that it is spoken in real life.
#2- First, when you´re listening, try to write down some of the things that “you hear”.
About the first sentence, the Present Continuous was used, and my question goes to that point. When you said “you are hearing”, were you referring to a temporary situation there?
Could you have said “That way, you know that the language that you hear…” or not?
He hasn´t replied to me yet and I am still confused about that.
Could anyone from the LearnEnglish Team help me again? I would really appreciate that. I´ll be waiting on your response. Take care!
Hello Rilton,
By the way, I shortened your comment a bit since it was very long.
The sentence you are asking about (That way, you know that the language that “you are hearing” is mostly correct and being spoken the way that it is spoken in real life) is perfectly natural and correct.
Continuous verb forms can refer to much more than the current moment or temporary situations. In this case, it looks to me as if it's describing something that is changing or developing or something that is continuing for some time.
Our Continuous aspect page gives a good summary of the most common uses of continuous forms if you're interested in seeing some other possible uses.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi, everyone!
Good vibrations from Rio de Janeiro/Brazil.
I have a question.
At the beginning of this week, I saw the sentence below.
I´ve learnt that “for years” is an unspecified period/time, which is used in Perfect Tenses.
The person who wrote that sentence is a teacher from England.
Why did he use the Present Continuous instead of the Present Perfect Continuous?
I would have said “if you´ve been studying English for years”.
And I would also have continued saying “but haven´t seen”,
Could anyone from the LearnEnglish Team help me?
I would really appreciate that.
I´ll be waiting on your response.
Take care!
Hello Rilton Notlir,
I agree with you. The use of present continuous is not correct in this case, and the best form is present perfect continuous. I'm afraid I can't say why this teacher wrote it that way, but perhaps they thought it would be better understood.
As for the second part, 'haven't seen' is also correct, but since there seems to be some emphasis on the present situation, I think 'can't see' is OK.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi, Kirk.
About the second part, I agree with you about the emphasis on the present situation.
Thanks a lot for answering my question.
The train is leaving in ten minutes' time. Is it correct ?
Or we must say the train leaves in ten minutes' time.
Hi..
Is it correct to use the present contineous to talk about our daily routine , like "...,when I’m not writing, I’m cooking and cleaning ...."? if it is valid, which of the P.C tense uses mentioned above applies to this sentence ?
Hello lemmongrab,
Yes, that's correct. The present continuous describes a state of being, meaning the situation you're in at a given moment. In your example the speaker is saying that they are constantly busy and at any given moment if they are not busy doing one thing then they are busy doing another. It uses the idea of constant activities in progress to show how busy they are, so it's not really talking about a routine so much as a state of being busy constantly.
Does that clarify it for you?
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello!
Could you tell me why the verb be doesn't drop the -e?
Because we say:
She's being a very good student
Instead of:
She's bing a very good student
Thank you so much.
Hi fernandesrafah,
It's because of how the word sounds.
The "e" at the end of a verb is dropped if it is silent (e.g. live --> living; love --> loving; write --> writing). But in "be", the "e" is not silent. It has a sound, so the "ing" is added to it, rather than replacing it. "Being" has two syllables (be-ing) while the word "bing" would only have one syllable. Other verbs are similar (see --> seeing; agree --> agreeing).
I hope that answers your question?
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello teachers,
Is this sentence 'She is very careful' called a nominal sentence?
And if I want to use the sentence in present progressive form, which one is correct "She is very careful" or "she is being very careful"? Do they have different meanings?
Thank you very much in advance.
Hi Risa warysha,
No, it's not a nominal sentence. It's a verbal sentence, because it includes a finite verb ("is"). A nominal sentence has no finite verb (e.g. The faster, the better. / How interesting!)
About your second question, they are both correct. Yes, they have different meanings. "She is being very careful" means that she is doing the current action carefully (but it does not say anything about whether she is generally careful or not, in other actions). On the other hand, "She is very careful" is about her actions in general.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Can I say " She is lazy." for present progressive form because I think that "be" is a state verb?
And can I also say "She has been busy for the last 2 weeks." instead of "She has been being busy for the last 2 weeks."?
Hi Risa warysha,
"Be" is a state verb, that's right. "She is lazy" is a perfectly good sentence but it's a present simple sentence, not the present progressive, because the present progressive is formed by be + -ing verb. The present progressive would be "She is being lazy", which also means a state but a temporary one, as mentioned above.
About your second question, it's very unusual to say "been being busy". The present perfect "She has been busy" already indicates a state that is temporary.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hi Peter
1- can I use adverbs of frequency with Present continuous for
( temporary and changing, growing or developing and around now )
OR just I can use adverbs of frequency with Present continuous for (before and after a specific time and again and again ) ?
2- Is this grammatical or informal ?
I use Present simple for future with (Instructions and directions) ?
example
- where do I pay ?
- You take the train into the city centre and then you take a number five bus
Hello HLH,
Re: 1, if I understand you, I'd say adverbs of frequency aren't generally used with these meanings. But could you please give some specific examples? Just so we can be sure that we're talking about the same thing.
Re: 2, yes, these sentences are good examples of the present simple for instructions or directions. I wouldn't say there's any future sense here because in general, instructions were valid in the past, are valid now, and will be valid in the future.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
why my answers consider wrong i put is not instead of isn't . well does't they consider the same thing ?
Hi ashley_20,
Yes, right! "Is not" is the same as "isn't".
But if you are looking at the exercise "Present continuous negatives 2", the instruction says: Use contractions. That's why only "isn't" is accepted.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Why use "- ing" in this sentence? I usually say "I'll go...". How does "- ing" work?
Shall I pick up the laundry for you? Oh, no, don’t make a special journey. It’s OK. I'll be going to the shops anyway.
Hello again Jembut,
The form 'will be verb-ing' is often used when an action is seen as part of our day's itinerary. It's a little less formal than some other forms and is quite common in speech.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I don't get the: "something which happens again and again". Isn't Present Simple the tense which we use to phrase repetitive, routine actions?
Hello Prodykcja,
You are right in thinking that we generally use the present simple to talk about routine actions. If we use the present continuous to talk about habitual actions, another layer of meaning is added.
Typically, it's one of two or three additional meanings. First, it can show that we're thinking of actions that continue for a specific period of time. For example, if you ask me to go running with you at 7 p.m., I might say, 'I'm sorry, but I'm just getting home from work then. I can't.' The specific period of time is the time it would take to go for a run starting at 7 p.m. Note that in this case, I could also answer using the present simple, but using the present continuous shows I'm not thinking so much of a schedule as what I'm normally doing at that time. This is not particularly important most of the time; it's more just how people sometimes think.
The second additional meaning the present continuous can express is an attitude of annoyance. We very often use time adverbials such as 'always' and 'all the time' when we want to express this meaning. The sentences in the explanation above are good examples of this.
The third (though not necessarily last) meaning expresses some kind of change. For example, let's say that for years your brother has had the habit of going running two days a week. Now he is training for a marathon, so you could tell your friends 'He's running every day now'.
As I've mentioned, there are other possible meanings -- you can see more on our Continuous aspect page -- but I'd say these are the most common ones.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi, I learned that we can use the present continuous with some state verbs, but most of the time, those verbs describe ‘actions’ rather than ‘states.’ However, there is one example that baffles me, it is ‘Ella’s with us at the moment. The children are loving having her here.’ The state verb here describes emotion rather than action. And there is an explanation that the state verb in the aforementioned sentence emphasizes the situation for a period of time around the present. But, I am still confused about that. I think the present simple would be more proper, it should be ‘Ella’s with us at the moment. The children love having her here.’
Would you mind giving me further explanation about this case? As what I have been taught was that the state verb without ‘action’ meanings should be used in present simple to describe the states or feelings which are true at present.
Hello Bao Quach,
You certainly could use the present simple here, and there's really very little difference between the simple and continuous forms in this case. The use of continuous aspect here is very subjective and can communicate different things.
It could, for example, show that the speaker is trying to emphasise the temporary nature of the event, or it could be that it surprises her -- perhaps she expected the children not to enjoy having Ella at home. In this case, it would also be possible to use the simple 'don't like having her here' too, so it could again be a more emphatic way of saying it.
The continuous form is less matter-of-fact. If it were a simple observation about the children that isn't particularly important, the simple form would be the form the speaker would undoubtedly use. The fact they use the continuous form adds a more emotional or subjective flavour. I know that's very abstract, and I hope it's not confusing! It really depends on the speaker's intentions (which of course I don't know) and is difficult to describe.
But I hope that helps a little.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Thank you so much for your clear and insightful explanation; it helps a lot.
I have heard people say "I'm agreeing with you" or "I'm disagreeing with you". The word "to agree" or "to disagree" is a stative verb. Why is it used with the progressive?
Hello Selet,
As you say, these words are usually stative. However, if a person is in the middle of speaking and is interrupted then they might use them in a progressive form. For example:
John: I thought that film was really boring!
Sue: She's a really good director...
John: I know you'd argue!
Sue: Let me finish - I'm actually agreeing with you here! I was going to say that she's a really good director but this was a really bad film, not like her at all.
In a context like this the progressive is possible.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Can I ask a question using the question word "how long" in present continuous?
How long are you doing this?
Or
How long have you been doing this?
Which one would be correct?
Hello renu,
There might be a particular context in which the first sentence (with present continuous) is possible, but in general it's not correct. If you see someone doing something that they started doing sometime in the past, generally speaking 'How long have you been doing this?' is the correct question because we use this tense to speak about something that began in the past and is still relevant to the present.
This is a challenging point for many people learning English.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello
Can I mention a long period with the present continuous
example
this company is working in air port for 100 years
this company is working now
Hi HLH,
No, if you want to say for 100 years (or for + any time period), it should be the present perfect continuous: This company has been working in the airport for 100 years. You can read more about this on our Present perfect continuous page (linked). I hope you find it useful.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
I'm reading a book about AI. This sentence doesn't necessarily mean I'm reading the book at the moment of speaking, Could you check this pls?
Hi Khangvo2812,
Yes, that's right. We understand "reading a book" as an activity that can stop and start, but still all be the same activity. This includes at the moment of speaking. Even if you are not reading the book right now, if you have already started reading it and you intend to continue reading it in the future, then you can still say "I'm reading the book".
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello, Sir!
I wanted to know if the word "now" can be used with the present simple (excluding state verbs). I found an exercise where,I think, the options should have contained the present continuous form:
- Melissa......... in a very busy office now.
A. works
B. has worked
C. was working
The answer is A (works). I think the sentence is about the action happening now. I was wondering why the present simple is used here.
Thank you very much for your time.
Best Wishes!
Hello Sokhomkim,
It's fine to use the present simple here provided you are describing a change to a permanent (or long-term) state. For example:
The first sentence describes a change in Melissa's permanent/stable home; the second a change in her temporary living location.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I got it. Thanks you so much for your time, Sir. :)
Good morning teachers
When writing a sentence with for example “always, constantly, continually, forever” it means that something is irritating about the other people and more than normal?
And can I use this form with “I”?
For example:
A) My son is always staying up late. (Irritating for me and more than normal)
B) My daughter is constantly studying. ( it is not irritating for me, but it’s more than normal)
C) I am forever losing my keys. (Irritating and more than normal)
Moreover, can I use this form to indicate an irritating behavior even if it doesn’t happen more than normal?
For example:
A) He is always play on his phone.( not more than normal, but irritating me)
So, these sentences are fine? Also, can I use other adverbs like(often, sometimes ) to give the same idea of always, forever and the other adverbs of this kind(always, constantly, endlessly…etc).
Thank you for your help and patience.
Hello khaledAl5,
The present progressive with always (forever, constantly etc) is often used for irritating habits but it can be used in other ways too. For example, it can be used to show something we find endearing or worrying as in your example B. It's context-dependent, of course, and the tone of voice or comments like 'it's so funny' signal the speaker's intent.
It's fine to use this form in the first person. Your example is a very good one.
Other adverbs of frequency like often, sometimes and so on are used with simple aspect rather than progressive. They don't have the same suggestion of impatience or irritation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, could you elucidate further about present continuous can be used for something which is happening before and after a specific time?
Thank you.
Hi nadiayunos,
For example, if you say:
It doesn't mean that the action happened only at eight o'clock, lasting for that moment only. The idea is that the action is ongoing at that specific moment - it started some time before eight o'clock, and went on after that moment.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team