English — Present Continuous: Formation and Use with Examples — 2nd Year Middle School — Algerian Curriculum

Present Continuous: Formation and Use with Examples

The Present Continuous tense expresses actions happening now or around now. Formation: Subject + am/is/are + verb-ing. Affirmative: I am (I’m) playing, He/She/It is playing, You/We/They are playing. Negative: I am not playing, He is not (isn’t) playing, They are not (aren’t) playing. Interrogative: Am I playing? Is he playing? Are they playing? Spelling rules for -ing: add -ing directly (play→playing), drop e (make→making), double final consonant after vowel (run→running, swim→swimming), change ie to y (die→dying). Uses: actions happening now (I am reading a book), temporary situations (She is staying with her aunt this week), future arrangements (We are going to the cinema tonight), repeated actions with always (He is always complaining). Stative verbs (know, believe, love, hate, want, need) are not usually used in continuous form. Compare: I speak English (general ability) vs I am speaking English (right now). Time expressions: now, right now, at the moment, today, this week, look!, listen!