Some people say present continuous. Some people say present progressive. The choice is yours.
Form:
am / is / are + present participle (base verb + ing)
We use the present simple tense of the auxiliary verb TO BE without TO + present participle ()
- I am working
- You are talking
- She is swimming
- He is running
- It is raining
- We are walking
- You are eating
- They are sleeping
We use the present progressive tense
To talk about or describe something that is ongoing and happening now.
- Tamara is driving to work. (She is in the car now and driving.)
- What are you doing? I am watching a movie. (I am in front of my television and watching the movie now.)
- What are the children doing? They are playing video games. (They are playing now.)
- My father is cooking pasta. (My father is in the kitchen and he is cooking pasta now.)
- What is your sister baking? She is baking cookies. (My sister is baking now.)
To talk about or describe something that is in progress over a period of time.
- I am reading a good book. (I am not reading now. It will take me a week to finish the book.)
- She is teaching this semester. (She is not teaching at this moment. She is teaching for four months.)
- Are you studying English? (You are not studying at this moment. You are studying the whole year.)
- They are engineers. They are working on a special project. (They are not at their desk now. It is an ongoing project.)
- He is working in Munich this year. (He is in Munich and he works. He is not working a this moment.)
- They are not studying medicine. They are studying English. (They are not studying at this moment.)
- He‘s not teaching this semester. (He is not teaching now and he is on vacation this semester.)
To talk about or describe something that will happen in the future.
- They are driving to Tokyo tomorrow.
- I‘m not attending the conference next month.
- They‘re flying to New York tonight.
- She is going to summer camp in July.
- Are you coming to the party with us on Saturday?
- Is she attending the concert this weekend?
- He isn’t joining us for dinner this evening.
Tip: will and going to are also used to talk about the future.
Try the present tenses quiz!
