Lesson 2 The Present Continuous

A. Form: - BE + ING

Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
I am speaking He (she, it) is speaking We are speaking You are speaking They are speaking	Am I speaking? Is he (she, it) speaking? Are we speaking? Are you speaking? Are they speaking?	I am not (I’m not) speaking He (she, it) is not (isn’t) speaking We are not (aren’t) speaking You are not (aren’t) speaking They are not (aren’t) speaking

Negative-interrogative

a)

Am I not speaking? Is he (she, it) not speaking? Are we not speaking? Are you not speaking? Are they not speaking?

b)

Aren’t I speaking? Isn’t he (she, it) speaking? Aren’t we speaking? Aren’t you speaking? Aren’t they speaking?

B. Use

1) We use the present continuous to talk about something which is in progress at the moment of speaking:

▪ ‘Where are the children?’ ‘They are playing in the garden.’

▪ ‘What are you doing at the moment?’ ‘I’m writing a letter.’

▪ We are leaving now. Good bye.

▪ Please don’t make so much noise. I’m trying to work.

2) We also use the present continuous to talk about something which is in progress around the present, but not necessarily exactly at the moment of speaking. In such sentences we can use the present continuous with periods around now –today – this week – this year – etc.:

▪ You are spending a lot of money these days.

▪ She is looking for a job this week.

▪ Kate wants to work in Italy, so she is learning Italian. (She is not learning Italian at the time of speaking )

▪ Some friends of mine are building their own houses. They hope to finish them next summer.

▪The company I work for isn’t doing so well this year.

▪ You are working hard today.

3) We use the present continuous to talk about something which is in progress for a limited period around the present:

▪ Robert is on holiday this week. He is staying with his sister in Liverpool.

4) We use the present continuous to talk about situations which are changing or developing around the present, especially with these verbs: get – change – become – increase – rise – fall – grow – improve – begin – start -:

▪ Your children are growing very quickly.

▪ Computers are becoming more and more important in our lives.

▪ Is your English getting better?

▪ The population of the world is increasing very fast.

5) We use the present continuous to talk about a future action when it’s planned:

▪ I am leaving tonight.

▪ They are getting married in June.

▪ We are playing tennis tomorrow.

6) We use the present continuous to talk about a continuous process with the adverbs –always – constantly – still (goes after the auxiliary verb):

▪ The Earth is always moving.

▪ He is always grumbling.

▪ She is constantly laughing.

▪ He is still wearing the old jacket.

The Present Continuous Tense and the Present Simple Tense

A.

Present Continuous

1) We use the present continuous to talk about something that is in progress at or around the moment of speaking. The action is not complete:

▪ Are you working now?

▪ It is raining outside.

Present Simple

We use the present simple to talk about repeated actions or habits, and things which are generally true:

▪ Do you work every Saturday afternoon?

▪ It rains a lot in Britain in March and April.

2) We use the present continuous for temporary situations and the present simple for permanent situations:

Compare

▪ I am sleeping on a sofa these days because my bed is broken.

▪ I always sleep eight hours every night.

▪ The water is boiling. Can you turn it off?

▪ Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

▪ ‘I’m busy.’ ‘What are you doing?’

▪ ‘What do you usually do at weekends?’

▪ I’m getting hungry. Let’s go and eat.

▪ I always get hungry in the afternoon.

▪ Kate wants to work in Italy, so she is learning Italian.

▪ Most people learn to swim when they are children.

3) –I always do (something) = I do it every time.

- I am always doing (something) has a different meaning: ‘very often’, ‘too often’

▪ I always go to work by car.

▪ I am always losing things. (I lose things very often, perhaps too often, or more often than normal)

▪ You are always watching television. You should do something more active.

▪ Tim is never satisfied. He is always complaining. (=He complains too much)

4) The following verbs are not normally used in the present continuous: like / love / hate / want / need / prefer / know / realise / suppose / mean / understand / see / hear / feel / think / believe / remember / belong / fit / contain / consist / seem. They don’t express a process:

▪ I am hungry. I want something to eat. (not I am wanting)

▪ Do you understand what I mean?

▪ Ann doesn’t seem very happy at the moment.

5) Some expressions can be used in the continuous form: to see the sights of / to see smb home off / to have dinner (lunch, supper):

▪ They were seeing the sights of London when I met him.

▪ He is having lunch.

NOTE!

THINK

When – think – means ‘believe’ or ‘have opinion’, we don’t use the Continuous form:

▪ I think Mary is Canadian, but I am not sure. (It’s my opinion)

▪ What do you think about my plan? (What is your opinion?)

When – think – means a process of thought – it can be used in the Continuous form.

▪ I am thinking about what happened.

▪ Nicky is thinking of giving up her job.

We also use the present simple in – I promise – I agree – I refuse -:

▪ I promise I’ll write to you.

ADMIRE

▪ I admire this man very much. (=meaning “восхищаться” – cannot be used in the continuous form)

▪ What are you doing here? Admiring the moon. (=meaning “любоваться ” – can be used in the continuous form)

B. We use –am / is / are being – to say how somebody is behaving. It is not usually possible in other sentences:

He is being = He is behaving / He is acting.

▪ I can’t understand why he is being so selfish. (being selfish = behaving selfishly at the moment)

▪ He never thinks about other people. He is very selfish. (not! He is being) (=He is selfish generally, not only at the moment)

C. We often use –can + see / hear / smell / taste:

▪ I can hear a strange noise. Can you hear it?