THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

 The Present Continuous Tense is the tense that refers to the action which is going on right now though it is unfinished. In other words, these actions are still happening at the time you are speaking.

STRUCTURE:

Subject + am /is /are  Present Participle Verb (V4) + Rest of the sentence

MAKING POSITIVE SENTENCES
Subject	Helping Verb	Main Verb (V4)	Rest of the sentence
I	am	going	to school.
We	are	going	to school.
You	are	going	to school.
He	is	going	to school.
She	is	going	to school.
It	is	going	to school.
Raju	is	going	to school.
They	are	going	to school.

MAKING NEGATIVE SENTENCES
Subject	Helping Verb	Adverb	Main Verb (V4)	Rest of the sentence
I	am	not	going	to school.
We	are	not	going	to school.
You	are	not	going	to school.
He	is	not	going	to school.
She	is	not	going	to school.
It	is	not	going	to school.
Raju	is	not	going	to school.
They	are	not	going	to school.
Raju and Rani	are	not	going	to school.

 

MAKING POSTITVE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
Helping Verb	Subject	Main Verb (V4)	Rest of the sentence
Am	I	going	to school?
Are	we	going	to school?
Are	you	going	to school?
Is	he	going	to school?
Is	she	going	to school?
Is	it	going	to school?
Is	Raju	going	to school?
Are	they	going	to school?
Are	Raju and Rani	going	to school?

MAKING NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
Helping Verb	Subject	Adverb	Main Verb (V4)	Rest of the sentence
Am	I	not	going	to school?
Are	we	not	going	to school?
Are	you	not	going	to school?
Is	he	not	going	to school?
Is	she	not	going	to school?
Is	it	not	going	to school?
Is	Raju	not	going	to school?
Are	they	not	going	to school?
Are	Raju and Rani	not	going	to school?

USAGE:

We use it when we are witness to the actions happening around us. These actions happen in a real time:

Eg:

           

 The girls are playing chess. ( playing now )

We are plucking flowers for my mother. ( plucking now )

They are walking on the road. ( walking now )

When comes to negative sentences, all the persons can be contracted except first person singular:

Eg:

I am not reading the book. ✔

I amn't reading the book.  ✖

We are not playing. ✔

We aren't playing.✔

She is not walking fast. ✔

She isn't walking fast. ✔

No longer (adverbial phrase) is replaceable with not in negative sentences:

Eg:

I am not living in Warangal. = I am no longer living in Warangal.

 On contrary to the above situation, sometimes we express ideas in Present Continuous Tense that is not happening now. But it is taking place continuously over a long period of time. It is not permanent:

Eg:

 

I am reading Ramayana. (not working in a real time)

He is working in a school.  (not working in a real time)

I am living in Warangal.  (not working in a real time)

 

The near future ideas that are planned can be expressed in the Present Continuous Tense. These ideas can be expressed by adding adverbs of time at the rest of the sentence:

Eg:

My friend is coming to visit my home. (happening now)

My friend is coming to visit my home tomorrow. (planned for the future)

We are consulting a lawyer. (happening now)

We are consulting a lawyer next week. (planned for the future)

I am attending a party. (happening now)

I am attending a party in two days. (planned for the future)

For repeated actions, we use adverbs of frequency. These adverbs are used between be and present participle:

Eg:

He is still working in a school.

Raju is frequently enquiring about his mother's health.

It is raining continually.

When you use always try to understand its frequency of happening of a particular action:

Compare:

I am always giving you suggestions. ( The action happens very often )

I always give you suggestions. ( The action happens every time )

Some verbs cannot be used in the continuous tense. In such cases, a Simple Present Tense is used. ( stative verbs):

 ( possess, own, contain, see,hear,smell,notice,recognize,think,believe,agree,suppose,consider,

forget,remember,trust,renew,understand,mind,mean,love,hate,wish,want,feel,desire,prefer,refuse,hope,look,appear,imagine,seem,etc.)

Eg:

I am trusting you. ✖

I trust you.  ✔

Raju is hating Rani. ✖

Raju hates Rani. ✔

They are forgetting everything. ✖

They forget everything.  ✔

Some of the stative verbs (sense verbs: taste, smell, sound, feel, seem, appear, look) are used to describe a temporary state in some contexts ; common in casual writing and speaking:

Eg:

You are looking gargeous, Rosy!

The stative verb feel ( sense verb) is used when talking about your or someone else's health:

Eg:

I am not feeling these days.

Are you feeling well?

Some of the stative verbs (especially that refer to senses) are used as action verbs in some contexts:

Eg:

They are sounding the emergency alarm.

I am tasting the soup to decide its freshness.

Some times verbs of emotion is used in the continuous form to describe a temperory sensation, but these are usually informal:

Eg:

I am loving this kind of traditions.

I am hating the sixth series of this show.

also enjoy is a verb of emotion it is not considered informal when used in a continuous form:

Eg:

He is enjoying his new married life.

Also there are some verbs of emotions, not to use in the continuous form:

Eg:

They are preferring their master's guidance. ✖

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