Grammar Reference

 

4.1 ■ Present continuous

Affirmative and negative
I	'm (= am) 'm not (= am not)	eating breakfast.
He She It	's (= is) isn't (= is not)
We You They	're (= are) aren't (= are not)
Questions and short answers
Am	I	eating breakfast?	Yes, I am. No, I'm not.
Is	he she it		Yes, he is. No, he isn't.
Are	we you they		Yes, we are. No, we aren't.

Spelling rules: -ing form

• Most regular verbs: add -ing.
• Verbs ending in -e: remove -e and add -ing.
• Verbs ending -ie: change -ie to -ying.
• Short verbs ending consonant + vowel + consonant: double the final consonant and add -ing.

Use

We use the present continuous to talk about:

• actions that are happening at the time of speaking, often with expressions such as at the moment and now.
  What are you doing? ~ I’m watching TV.
  She’s doing her homework at the moment.
• actions that are happening around now, but perhaps not at the moment of speaking.
  I’m travelling around Australia.(I’m not travelling right now.)
  We’re studying English at university.(We’re not studying at the moment.)

4.2 ■ Present simple or present continuous

We use the present simple to talk about:

• general truths
• habits and routines

We often use frequency expressions, e.g. sometimes, never, every week, once a month with the present simple.

We use the present continuous to talk about:

• activities that are happening now.
• temporary situations.

We often use expressions like right now and at the moment with the present continuous.