Functions of the present continuous

As with all tenses in English, the speaker's attitude is as important as the time of the action or
event. When someone uses the present continuous, they are thinking about something that is
unfinished or incomplete

The present continuous is used:

to describe an action that is going on at this moment: You are using the Internet. You are studying
English grammar.

to describe an action that is going on during this period of time or a trend: Are you still working for
the same company? More and more people are becoming vegetarian.

to describe an action or event in the future, which has already been planned or prepared: We're
going on holiday tomorrow. I'm meeting my boyfriend tonight. Are they visiting you next winter?

to describe a temporary event or situation: He usually plays the drums, but he's playing bass guitar
tonight. The weather forecast was good, but it's raining at the moment.

with "always, forever, constantly", to describe and emphasise a continuing series of repeated
actions: Harry and Sally are always arguing! You're constantly complaining about your mother-in-
law!

Be careful: Some verbs are not usually used in the continuous form

Verbs that are not usually used in the continuous form

The verbs in the list below are normally used in the simple form because they refer to states,
rather than actions or processes.

Senses / perception
to feel* to hear to see* to smell
to taste
Opinion
to assume to believe to consider to doubt
to feel (= to think) to find (= to consider) to suppose to think*
Mental states
to forget to imagine to know to mean
to notice to recognize to remember to understand
Emotions / desires
to envy to fear to dislike to hate
to hope to like to love to mind
to prefer to regret to want to wish
Measurement
to contain to cost to hold to measure
to weigh
Others to look (=resemble) to seem to be (in most cases)
to have (when it means "to possess")*

Present continuous
Learn about the present continuous and do the exercises to practise using it. The present
continuous is made from the present tense of the verb be and the –ing form of a verb:

I am working

You are playing

He is talking

She is living

It is eating

We are staying

They are sleeping

We use the present continuous to talk about:

activities at the moment of speaking:
I'm just leaving work. I'll be home in an hour.
Please be quiet. The children are sleeping
future plans or arrangements:
Mary is going to a new school next term.
What are you doing next week? be quiet. The children are sleeping.

Present continuous questions

We make questions by putting am, is or are in front of the subject:

Are you listening?

Are they coming to your party?
When is she going home?
What am I doing here?

Present continuous negatives

We make negatives by putting not (or n't) after am, is or are:

I'm not doing that.

You aren't listening. (or You're not listening.)
They aren't coming to the party. (or They're not coming to the party.)
She isn't going home until Monday. (or She's not going home until Monday.)
We also use the present continuous to talk about:
something which is happening before and after a specific time:
At eight o'clock we are usually having breakfast.
When I get home the children are doing their homework.

something which we think is temporary:

Michael is at university. He's studying history.
I'm working in London for the next two weeks.

something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.
What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowadays?
What sort of music are they listening to?

something which is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing up quickly.
The climate is changing rapidly.
Your English is improving.

something which happens again and again:

It's always raining in London.
They are always arguing.
George is great. He's always laughing.

We can use the present continuous to talk about the past when we are:
telling a story:
The other day I'm just walking down the street when suddenly this man comes up to me and asks
me to lend him some money. Well, he's carrying a big stick and he looks a bit dangerous, so I'm
wondering what to do …

summarising a book, film or play:

Harry Potter is a pupil at Hogwarts school. One day when he is playing Quidditch he sees a strange
object in the sky. He wonders what is ha

Past continuous
Learn how to use the past continuous to talk about the past, and do the exercises to practise using
it. The past continuous is made from the past tense of the verb be and the –ing form of a verb:

I was
You were
He was
She was working
It was
We were
You were
They were
We use the past continuous to talk about the past:
for something which happened before and after another action:
The children were doing their homework when I got home.
Compare: The children did their homework when (= after) I got home.
This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:
The other day I was waiting for a bus when …
Last week, as I was driving to work, …

for something that happened before and after a specific time:

It was eight o'clock. I was writing a letter.
Compare: At eight o'clock I wrote (= started writing) some letters.

to show that something continued for some time:

My head was aching.
Everyone was shouting.

for something that happened again and again:

I was practising every day, three times a day.
They were meeting secretly after school.
They were always quarrelling.

with verbs which show change or growth:

The children were growing up quickly.
Her English was improving.
My hair was going grey.
The town was changing quickly.

We do not normally use the past continuous with stative verbs. We use the past simple instead:
When I got home, I really needed (NOT was needing) a shower.

Past continuous and hypotheses

We can also use the past continuous to refer to the present or future in hypotheses (when we
imagine something). See these pages:

Past tense
Verbs in time clauses and conditionals
Wishes and hypotheses

Grammar reference:
Past continuous and past simple
Can you remember the sentences from the last activity? Using the verbs in brackets ( ), complete
them with the past simple and/or the past continuous.

18 items remaining

1. What _________ you _________ (do) at eight o'clock last night?

2. The police __________ (stop) Willis as he _________ (drive) to the airport.

3. When I __________ (get) to work, I __________ (realise) that I __________ (not wear) my
watch.

4. Where Rob and Rebecca ___________ (live) when they ____________ (have) their first child?

5. Anyway, what I ___________ (talk) about? I can't remember.

6. By the time we __________ (get) to the party, everybody ___________ (go) home.

7. One of our teachers ___________ (tell) us that we ___________ (not work) hard enough.

8. Jules __________ (always fall) in and out of love when he __________ (be) a young man.

Past Continuous
Positive and Negative
Make the positive or negative past continuous

1) Julie ______________ (sleep) at three o'clock.

2) You ______________(study) at three o'clock.

3) Luke _____________ (read) at three o'clock.

4) I ______________ (work) at three o'clock.

5) They ____________ (eat) chocolate at three o'clock.

6) John ____________ (play) tennis at three o'clock.

7) We _____________ (watch) TV at three o'clock.

8) He ____________ (use) the internet at three o'clock.

9) You _____________ (cook) lunch at three o'clock.

10) We _____________ (travel) to London at three o'clock.

11) Mrs Brown ______________ (not/walk) in the garden when the murder happened.

12) Mr Black _______________ (not/work) in his study when the murder happened.

13) Miss Jones _________________ (not/talk) to Mr. White when the murder happened.

14) You _______________ (not/play) cards when the murder happened.

15) Dr Ford ________________ (not/read) in his room when the murder happened.

16) Mr. and Mrs. Green _____________ (not/eat) in the dining room when the murder happened.

17) Mr Blue ______________ (not/drink) coffee in the library when the murder happened.

18) The maid _______________ (not/clean) the bedrooms when the murder happened.
19) I ______________ (not/listen) to music when the murder happened.

20) The dogs _______________ (not/play) outside when the murder happened.

Present Continuous
Positive and Negative

Make the present continuous, positive or negative

1) (I / study at the moment)

__________________________________

2) (I / not / sleep)

__________________________________

3) (you / play badminton tonight)

__________________________________

4) (we / watch TV)

__________________________________

5) (she / not / work in Spain)

__________________________________

6) (he / not / wait for the bus)

__________________________________

7) (they / read)

__________________________________

8) (we / not / go to the cinema tonight)

__________________________________

9) (you / not / read the newspaper)

__________________________________

10) (she / eat chocolate)

__________________________________

11) (I / not / live in Paris)

__________________________________
12) (we / study French)

___________________________________

13) (they / not / leave now)

___________________________________

14) (they / live in London)

___________________________________

15) (he / work in a restaurant now)

___________________________________

16) (I / not / meet my father at four)

___________________________________

17) (she / not / drink tea now)

___________________________________

18) (she / play the guitar)

___________________________________

19) (we / cook)

___________________________________

20) (he / walk to school now)

___________________________________