Present Continuous Tense, Rules, Examples, Formula and Uses

Present Continuous Tense: The Present Continuous Tense indicates that an action or condition is happening now and will continue to current times. The present continuous (also called present progressive) is a verb tense that is used to show an ongoing action that is happening now, either at the moment of the action. The present continuous can also be used to show that an action is going to take place in the near future. So, in this article, we will discuss the Present continuous tense, its structure, its rule, uses & examples in detail.

Present Continuous Tense

According to the Cambridge Dictionary defines the Present Continuous Tense is “the verb form that is used for actions or events that are happening in the current time”.

According to Collins Dictionary, the Present Continuous Tense is defined as “a verb form that consists of helping verb in the present tense then it is followed by a present participle and used especially to indicate that a present action or event is in progress, being repeated, or of a temporary nature or to express the future.”

Structure of Present Continuous Tense

The structure of the Present Continuous Tense can be fundamentally understood by analyzing its three different forms, affirmative or positive, negative, and interrogative sentence. Have a look over the structure in the following table.

Present Continuous Tense Examples

• Students are going to school. (students go to school Have been.)
• The girls are playing in the park. (girls playing in the park have been।)
• Rupali is crying out loud. (Rupali crying loudly has been।)
• It is raining now. (it rains now has been।)
• I am cooking biryani for the lunch.(I made biryani for lunch. I am staying.)
• Miss Angela is teaching the class. (Miss Angela read to the class has been।)

Structure of Sentences in Present Continuous Tense

Present Continuous Tense sentences can be in three forms, that is, Positive or Affirmative, Negative, and Interrogative sentences. Below is the structure of all three forms and examples to make you understand better.

Affirmative/Positive Sentence Structure:

Examples of Affirmative/Positive Sentence Structure:

• He is writing a letter.(He writes a letter Has been.)
• I am eating an apple.(i eat an apple I am staying.)
• They are sleeping, (they sleep Have been.)

Negative Sentence Structure:

Examples of Negative Sentence Structure:

• I am not teaching, (I read I am not there।)
• You are not listening, (you listen are not।)
• They are not enjoying the picnic. (They enjoy picnic not taking।)

Interrogative Sentence Structure:

Examples of Interrogative SentencesStructure:

• Am I teaching? (What i read am?)
• Are you listening to my story? (What you listen to my story had been?)
• Are they enjoying the picnic? (What they enjoy picnic Are you?)

Uses of Present Continuous Tense

Some of the uses of the Present Continuous Tense are-

Examples of Use of Present Continuous Tense

1. For an action going on at the time of speaking.

• She is singing.(he sings has been।)
• The boys are playing hockey. (boys playing hockey are being।)

2. For a temporary action that may not be actually happening at the time of speaking.

• I am reading ‘David Copperfield’ (but I am not reading at this moment). am staying)

3. For an action that has already been arranged to take place in the near future.

• I am going to the cinema tonight. (I’m going to the cinema tonight.) I am staying।)
• My uncle is arriving tomorrow. (my uncle come tomorrow Have been.)

How to Use Present Continuous Tense?

The point to remember is that the Present Continuous Tense starts with the subject followed by helping verbs or auxiliary verbs which consist of is/am/are then it is followed by the main verbs(which consist of the present participle, i.e. -ing) and finally, it ends with an object. The structure of the present continuous tense is given in the table below-

Exercise 1:

Exercise 2: