Present Continuous Tenses
Look at the example situation below:
- Lin is in her car. She is on her way to work.
She is driving to work.
This means: she is driving now, at the time of speaking. This action is not finished. - Marny is in the office now. This is the work time.
She is working.
This means: she is working now, at the time of speaking. This action is not finished because it is the work time for office staff.
The present continuous tense:
The Form:
| am / is / are + VERB-ING |
- Examples:
- I am writing an email to a customer. I am busy now.
- Mary is on the phone. She is speaking to someone.
The Usage
The present continuous tense expresses an activity that is in progress at the moment of speaking. It is a temporary activity that began in the past, is continuing at present, and will probably end at some point in the future.
- Examples:
- a. John is sleeping right now.
- b. I need an umbrella because it is raining.
- c. The students are sitting at their desks right now.
- d. I am taking five courses this semester.
Often the activity is of a general nature: something generally in progress this week, this month, this year.
- e. John is trying to improve his work habits.
- f. Susan is writing another book this year.
Note:
The sentence f. means that “writing a book” is a general activity Susan is engaged in at present, but it doesn’t not mean that at the moment of speaking she is sitting at her desk with pen in hand.
The present continuous with Future meaning
The present continuous tense is also used to express things we have planned and decided to do it. In this case, The present continuous tense expresses the future events which is arranged and implimented in a certain time of near future. Let’s study the following situation for the future meaning of present continuous tense.
- Examples:
- Mike: What are you doing on Saturday night?
- Judy: Nothing special. I’m staying home and watching T.V.
And you? What are you doing? - Mike: I’m going out with friends. we’re going dancing. Would you like to join us?
Mike and Judy are classmates in the university. It is on Thursday!
