Present Progressive

Present Progressive/Continuous

The present continuous tense (also called the present progressive tense) is commonly used in English for actions happening right now, in the future, or that are temporal. We will explain the rules for forming the tense with regular verbs.

Use

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1) Actions happening at the moment of speaking

Peter is reading a book now.

2) Fixed plan in the near future

She is going to Basel on Saturday.

3) Temporary actions

His father is working in Rome this month.

4) Actions happening around the moment of speaking (longer actions)

My friend is preparing for his exams.

5) Trends

More and more people are using their computers to listen to music.

6) Repeated actions which are irritating to the speaker (with always, constantly, forever)

Andrew is always coming late.

Formation

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Affirmative

Subject + to be (am, are, is) + infinitive + -ing

Negative

Subject + to be (am, are, is) + not +infinitive + -ing

Question

To be (am, are, is) + Subject +infinitive + -ing +?

Examples

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Affirmative sentences:

I am playing football.

I'm playing football. You are playing football.

You're playing football.

Negative sentences:

I am not playing football.

I'm not playing football. You are not playing football.

You're not playing football.

You aren't playing football.

Questions:

Am I playing football? Are you playing football?

How to make the -ING form

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With many verbs, you can simply add -ING to the end of the verb. However, with some verbs, you need to change the ending a little. Here are the rules:

Verb ending with... How to make the -ING form Examples

one vowel + one consonant Double the consonant, then add

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