The Present Progressive/Continuous

Form

We use a form of to be (am, are or is), the infinitive of the verb and the ending –ing.

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

Affirmative sentences:

I am playing volleyball.
He/she/it is playing volleyball.
We/you/they are playing volleyball.

NOTE: Use am with I, is with he, she, it and with all other pronouns are.

We often use short forms in affirmative sentences in the Present Progressive.

Negative sentences:

I am notplaying volleyball.
He/she/it is notplaying volleyball.
We/you/they are notplaying volleyball.

NOTE: We often use short forms in negative sentences in the Present Progressive.

Questions:

In the Present Progressive we put the auxiliary (am, are or is) before the subject
(Auxiliary - Subject - Verb - Rest).

Am I playing volleyball?
Is he/she/it playing volleyball?
Are we/you/they playing volleyball?

Present Progressive - Spelling

Be careful with some words when adding -ing to the infinitive.

1) consonant after a short, stressed vowel at the end of the word

Double the consonant.

sit – he is sitting
put - he is putting

If the consonant is not stressed, we do not double it:
benefit - benefiting (Here we stress the first 'e', not the 'i'.)

In British English we double one -l at the end of the word:
travel - travelling

2) one -e at the end of the word

Leave out the -e.
write – he is writing
take – he is taking

BUT:
double –e: add -ing
see – he is seeing

3) verbs ending in -ie

Change 'ie' to 'y'.
lie - he is lying

4) verbs ending in -c

Change 'c' to 'ck'.
picnic - he is picnicking

Long forms and short forms in the Present Progressive

We often use short forms of the auxiliaries. The Present Progressive is formed with the auxiliary to be (am, are, is), so short forms are very frequent.

affirmative
long form / short form
I amreading / I'mreading
he, she, it: / he, she, it:
he isreading / he'sreading
we, you, they: / we, you, they:
we arereading / we'rereading
negative (not after to be)
long form / short form
I amnotreading / I'mnotreading
he, she, it: / he, she, it:
he isnotreading / he isn'treading
or
he'snotreading
we, you, they: / we, you, they:
we arenotreading / we aren'treading
or
we'renotreading

Present Progressive - Signal words

Signal words tell you what tense you have to use. In the Present Progressive these words are used in situations which happen at the time of speaking.

now
at the moment
Look!
Listen!

Present Progressive/Continuous - Use

The Present Progressive is used when we talk about something which is happening now. It is also called Present Continuous. Have a look at the following examples:

1) actions happening at the moment of speaking (now, at the moment)

Peter isreading a book now.
She’slistening to the radio.

2) fixed plan in the near future

She isgoing to Basel on Saturday.

3) temporary actions

His father isworking in Rome this month.

Note:
We do use verbs which express states and are normally not used with the Present Progressive. Watch the difference in meaning.

They love being together. (They are not together now.)
They areloving being together. (They are together now.)

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

My friend ispreparing for his exams.

5) trends

More and more people areusing their computers to listen to music.

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

Andrew is always coming in late. (I don't like it.)

Simple Present:
Andrew always comes late. (Here I don't give a comment.)

Present Progressive - Diagram

We use the Present Progressive when we talk about something which is happening at the moment of speaking.

Present Progressive - Use

1) actions happening at the moment of speaking

Peter isreading a book now.

2) fixed plan in the near future

She isgoing to Basel on Saturday.

3) temporary actions

His father isworking in Rome this month.

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

My friend ispreparing for his exams.

5) trends

More and more people areusing their computers to listen to music.

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

Andrew is always coming late.

Signal words

now, at the moment, Look! Listen!

Form

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

Examples

Affirmative sentences:

I amplaying football.
I'mplaying football. / You areplaying 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?

Fill in the verbs in the Present Perfect Progressive into the gaps.

Example: / She ______tennis for half an hour now. (to play)
Answer: / She has been playing tennis for half an hour now.

1. I this website since 1999. (to run)
2. My parents for years. (to smoke)
3. We in Greece since last August. (to live)
4. He for her since 6 o'clock. (to wait)
5. Max and Paul their bikes all day. (to ride)
6. They in the sun for hours. (to lie)
7. It since I came home. (to rain)
8. Emily on the computer for too long. (to work)

Your Test

Top of Form

A) Negate the given sentence.
Example: He is playing on the computer. - He is not playing on the computer.
1) Cathy forgets her homework.

2) He is looking at a photo.

3) You are having fun.

4) I am repairing my bike.

B) Which answers are correct?
1) Which sentences/questions are in the Simple Present?
Do you like tea?
He is British.
She dropped a glass of milk.
She is sitting on a chair.
We don't go by bus.
2) Which are typical signal words for the das Present Progressive?
Listen!
at the moment
every day
now
often
sometimes
3) Which verb forms are used with the Simple Present?
are + infinitive + -ing
infinitive
infinitive + -ed
infinitive + -ing
infinitive + -s
4) Which are typical signal word words for the Simple Present?
at the moment
every day
now
often
sometimes
yesterday

C) Fill in the correct verb forms.
1) Ipreparing dinner.
2) Wedrawing a picture.
3) they walk to school.
4) Anne and Tomfeeding the cows.

D) Signal words in sentences
1) Which sentence is correct?
Look! Stan is doing magic tricks.
Stan is usually doing magic tricks.
2) Which sentence is correct?
They always go to school by bus.
They go to school by bus at the moment.
3) Which sentence is correct?
Listen! The girls are making a lot of noise.
The girls are often making a lot of noise.
4) Which sentence is correct?
Dorothy helps with the cooking in the afternoons.
Look! Dorothy helps with the cooking.

E) Which tense is used for the following actions?
1) habitual actions
Present Progressive
Simple Present
2) actions in the present - one follows after the other
Present Progressive
Simple Present
3) repeated actions
Present Progressive
Simple Present
4) things in general
Present Progressive
Simple Present

F) Fill in the verbs in brackets into the gaps.
1) We a computer game at the moment. (to play)
2) The cat seldom on the sofa. (to sleep)
3) Tom never picture postcards. (to write)
4) Angela sometimes a museum. (to visit)

Bottom of Form