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 Lal,
The first sentence describes a period of time continuing up to the present. it is an unfinished time period (it goes up to the moment of speaking and may continue) and so the present perfect is appropriate:
How long have you been waiting (for)? [we usually omit the 'for' but it can be included]
The other two sentences are dependent on context. Both describe past finished time and so use past forms, but you could use a range of alternatives, depending on the context. Past simple and continuous forms are both possible (simple views the wait as a single historical event; continuous as a process whose duration is emphasised) and past perfect forms (if the waiting was interrupted by another event in the past) are all possible. As I said, the context and speaker's intention will determine which of these forms is chosen.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Nefertiti,
As with any narrative, we generally use simple forms to describe the events unless we need to emphasise some particular aspect of the event (that it is interrupted or temporary, for example).
In most narratives we use the past simple to describe sequential events and the past continuous when we want to describe an event which is interrupted by another event. For example:
If we want to use present tenses to tell the same story then the simple and continuous forms remain:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi abdulhaqcivil1,
Both the present simple and the present continuous are possible here, but in general I'd recommend the present continuous if you're emphasising something that is abnormal (i.e. new and different).
I'd probably rephrase it as 'These days I'm having a lot of headaches (or 'frequent headaches')'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello khado,
As the page says, we use the present continuous when something happens again and again. You could use the present simple here, but there is a slight difference in meaning. The present continuous suggests something happens again and again but is not part of a regular pattern, while the present simple suggests either something is permanent and unchanging or that it happens as part of a timetable or regular pattern of some kind.
Of course, language is always interpreted by the listener and we know how weather acts, so your meaning would be understood with either form.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello el_gr,
Yes, both are used to speak about the future and both could be used in many contexts to say more or less the same thing, though usually there is a slight difference, often not so much in the action they are speaking about as about the speaker's perspective on the future action.
In general, the present continuous speaks about a future arranged action. The future continuous also speaks about a future arranged action with the additional focus on the duration of the event in some way, e.g. perhaps the speaker imagines herself being 'inside' the event. This can help understand sentences 3 vs 4 and 5 vs 6, for example. In 3, it's as if you're imagining your time in the restaurant together as a discrete event, whereas 4 is more a statement of fact. The same is true for 5 (I can see all the boxes around the house and it's going to be a difficult time) and 6.
This is quite a subtle distinction and so it can be difficult to see. I'd encourage you to look out for future continuous forms as you read and listen to English -- look at the context carefully, which should help you gain some insight into what the speaker or writer is trying to show with the future continuous form.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello omar123,
That is correct. When we say 'at eight o'clock we are usually having breakfast' we mean that the breakfast is generally in progress at that time. In other words, if you arrive at eight o'clock then we will be sitting down at the table and eating. Breakfast may start any time before that and finish any time after that.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sheikh Salauddin,
When we describe an event which is unfinished and talk about the duration (up to now) we use the present perfect. The normal was to say this woud be:
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello abdulhaqcivil1,
The description on the page explains this. We use the present continuous for something which is happening before and after a given time.
Compare the following:
In the first sentence breakfast starts at eight o'clock - this is our normal time to have the meal.
In the second sentence we learn that at eight o'clock we are usually in the middle of breakfast. Perhaps it starts at 7.45, for example - we do not know.
The continuous aspect here is used to show things are in progress and incomplete at a certain time.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello omar123,
'Perfect' and 'continuous' are aspects rather than separate tenses. Each adds another layer of meaning to the verb and a verb form can have neither, one or both of these aspects. For example, all of the forms below are present forms:
You can find information on the perfective aspect here and the continuous aspect here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Asarhaddon,
'doing' and 'working' in your three example sentences are -ing forms (which are not the same as the present continuous). When we use a verb after another verb, the first verb often determines what form the second verb goes in. In the case of 'remember', 'love' and 'hate', the second verb often goes in the -ing form. Other verbs require a bare infinitive (e.g. 'let' or 'make') and others require a to + infinitive (e.g. 'want'). If you follow the links you can read more about this.
'look forward to' is a little bit different. In this case, 'to' is a preposition (not part of an infinitive). Verbs that come after prepositions always go in the -ing form, which is why we say 'look forward to doing' and not 'look forward to do'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team