Present Continuous

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

The Present Continuous is used to talk about things that are happening now, for things continue for a limited period of time around now.

          I. FORM
          Positive 

Subject + to be + V - ing + ...
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I	am	going	to school.
He, She, It	is	going	to school.
We, You, They	are	going	to school.

          Negative 

Subject + to be + not + V - ing + ...
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I	am not	going	to school.
He, She, It	is not	going	to school.
We, You, They	are not	going	to school.

          Question

To be + Subject + V - ing+ ...?
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Am	I	going	to school?
Is	he, she, it	going	to school?
Are	we, you, they	going	to school?

          II. USE
          1. To express an activity happening now.
                    - She is singing now.
                    - They are playing football now.

          2. To express an activity happening in the near future.
                    - I am going to the cinema tonight.
                    - My uncle is arriving tomorrow.
                    - You are meeting her tomorrow.

          3. To express an activity happening around now, but not exactly at the moment of speaking.
                    - What are you doing these days?   - I'm learning Spanish.
                    - He is learning English Literature at University.

Spelling of the Present Participle

          1. + -ing               With most verbs we add -ing           
                    - walk   ----> walking
                    - read    ----> reading
                    - wear   ----> wearing
          2. e + -ing             With verbs that end with a consonant + -e, we delete the -e and add -ing           
                    - leave   ----> leaving
                    - take    ----> taking
                    - make   ----> making
          3. ee + -ing           With verbs that end in -ee, keep the -ee         
                    - see       ---->seeing
                    - agree    ----> agreeing
                    - free       ----> freeing
          4. ie + -ying          With verbs that end with -ie, we change -ie  to  -ying
                    - lie       ----> lying
                    - die      ----> dying
          5. -t + -tting         With verbs that end with one vowel + one consonant, we double the consonant
                    - get       ----> getting
                    - run       ----> running
                    - stop     ----> stopping
          6. + -ing               But note that we do not double the consonant
                        **When it is a y or w
                        **When the last syllable * is not stressed

                    - play         ----> playing
                    - snow       ----> snowing
                    - visit         ----> visiting

Non Progressive Verbs (Verbs that can't use with the Present Continuous)

          1. Mental State : Know, realize, understand, recognize, believe, suppose, imagine, doubt, forger, want, need, prefer, mean
          2. Emotional State : Love, hate, fear, mind, like, dislike, envy, care
          3. Possessive : Possess, have, own, belong
          4. Sense Reception : Taste, hear, see
          5. Other existing State : Seem, look, appear, cost, owe, weigh, be, exist, consist of, contain, include

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Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3
Practice 4

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Categories: Grammar