Understanding Present Continuous Tense (Rules + Examples)

Among the many verb tenses, present continuous is one of the most commonly used tenses in English. It is used in daily conversations by people at large. Here is a brief breakdown of the present continuous. The article details the definition, different types of tenses, uses of present continuous tense, the structure of present continuous, and examples.

What Is Present Continuous Tense?

The present continuous, also known as the present progressive tense, refers to actions that are taking place now, these days, or nowadays. Here, the action hasn’t been completed yet. It is continuing and will do so for a little while.

For example: She is cleaning the house. Here, the person is cleaning the house right now and will continue to do so for a while. The action hasn’t ended yet.

Another example: The dog is barking at the birds. Here the action (barking) is taking place right now. In other words, it is a temporary action that will end soon.

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I am going.	I am not going.	Am I going?
You are going.	You aren’t going.	Are you going?
He is going.	He isn’t going.	Is he going?
We are going.	We aren’t going.	Are we going?

What are the other tenses?

In English, there are three basic tenses. Each tense is further divided into four tenses. In total, the list comes to twelve verb tenses, and present continuous is one among them. Here is a full list of all the twelve tenses.

The Simple Present
The Present Continuous/Progressive Tense
The Present Perfect
The Present Perfect Continuous/Progressive Tense
Simple Past
The Past Continuous/Progressive Tense
The Past Perfect
The Past Perfect Continuous/Progressive Tense
The Simple Future
The Future Continuous/Progressive Tense
The Future Perfect
The Future Perfect Continuous/Progressive Tense

The table below explains each of these tenses with examples:

Tense	Function	Rule	Example
Present simple	Helps to describe habits, facts, actions, and truth that are not affected by time	I^st form of verb + s/es	He loves pizza.
Past simple	Helps to describe events that have happened in the past	II^nd form of the verb	She wore a beautiful dress for the party.
Future simple	Helps to describe events that will happen in the future	Will/ shall + I^st form	He will go to New York tomorrow.
Present perfect	Helps to describe the relevance of past events in the present moment	Has/ have + III^rd form of the verb	I have learned to ride a bike.
Past perfect	Helps to describe events that happened prior to other events in the past	Had + III^rd form of the verb	She had finished the paper before leaving the hall.
Future perfect	Helps to describe events that will be completed between now and a specific point in the future	Will/ have + III^rd form of the verb	She will have finished the book by tomorrow.
Present continuous	Helps to describe ongoing actions	Is/ am/ are + I^st form + ing	“She is reading a book.
Past continuous	Helps to describe ongoing events of the past, mostly in relation to another event	Was/ were + I^st form + ing	He was driving to work when the accident happened.
Future continuous	Helps to describe future events that will/are expected to continue for a period of time	Will be + I^st form + ing	I will be going to meet my grandparents tomorrow.
Present perfect continuous	Helps to describe events that started in the past and will continue into the present	Has/ have been + I^st form + ing	She has been writing a book for the past one year.
Past perfect continuous	Helps to describe events that began, continued, and ended in the past	Had been + I^st form + ing	I had been working in this company for ten years when I got the promotion.
Future perfect continuous	Helps to describe events that began in the past but will continue until a point in the future	Will/ shall have been + I^st form + ing	I will have been doing business with her for one year.

While these are all different types of tenses, the present simple, the past simple and the present perfect are the most commonly used.

Watch a short video lesson

Click to play.

How Is Present Continuous Different From Other Tenses?

Among many differences, the significant difference between the present continuous and other tenses is the structure. To understand them in detail, below is a comparison between present continuous with tenses like simple present and present perfect continuous.

Present Continuous vs. Simple Present

The simple tense is used when talking about actions that are done consistently. In other words, it is used when performing things that are done routinely. For example: He plays football. In the sentence “He plays football,” the person plays football as a part of his daily life. It is not temporary instead it is a permanent routine.

On the other hand, present continuous talks about actions that are happening now and will end in a little while. For example: She is eating now. Here, the “eating” action is happening now. It is temporary and will soon end.

In comparison to the simple present, forming a present continuous sentence is difficult. The structure of the present continuous is – subject + am/is/are + present participle (-ing).

On the other hand, the structure of the simple present is – subject + Verb1 + object.

The most common time frame words used in the simple present are always, often, generally, every day, every week, sometimes, and never.

In comparison, the common time frame words used in the present continuous are now, still, right now, these days, and at the moment.

All verbs are used in the simple present tense, whereas some verbs cannot be used in present continuous. Dynamic verbs are used, but stative verbs are not used in present continuous.

Present Continuous vs. Present Perfect Continuous

In the present continuous, the action is happening now. For example: I am eating now. Here the action of “eating” is taking place now.

In comparison, the present perfect continuous indicates that the action has started in the past and is continuing in the present. For example: She has been learning Ballet since 2020. Here the person started learning ballet in 2020 and still continuing with it.

The present continuous structure is – subject + am/is/are + present participle (-ing). On the other hand, the structure of present perfect continuous is – subject + have/has + been + present participle(ing).

How to Use Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous is used in many situations. It is used when:

Talking about things that are taking place now.
Describing an action that is in progress but takes a longer time to perform.
Describing an action that will happen in the near future.
Describing a repetitive, irritating action.

Action Taking Place Now

The tense is used when talking about an action that is happening now. The sentences have words like now, right now, and at the moment which indicates the action is taking place now.

Positive statement word	Example
I	eat
You	eat
She	eats
It	eats

Examples:

I am listening to music right now.
They are dancing at the party now.

Longer Actions In Progress

The present continuous is used to describe actions that are happening now but will take a longer time period to finish.

Examples:

I am studying engineering to become an engineer. Here studying (action) is happening right now but this will continue for a long period of time until becoming an engineer.
I am practicing singing to become a classical singer.

Near Future

It is used to describe events that are planned for the near future. The sentences have a “future word” in them. Words like tomorrow and next week are used.

Examples:

She is visiting the theatre tomorrow. Here, the person has planned to visit the theatre but will do it in the future which is tomorrow.
Messi is playing at a football match the next week.

Repetition

The tense is used to describe events that repeat and irritate.

Examples:

She is always complaining about her workplace. Here, the person is repeatedly complaining about her workplace.
He is constantly coughing. I wish he takes some medicine.

Present Continuous Grammar Rules

The present continuous is formed with the auxiliary verb and the present participle of the verb. The auxiliary verb comes in the form of am/is/are.
At the end of the present particle of the verb, an “ing” is added. Here is the structure: subject + am/is/are + present participle (-ing).
It is created using affirmative sentences as well as negative sentences.
For negative sentences, there is a slight difference in the structure. The structure is – subject + am/is/are + not + present participle (-ing).
It is also used in creating questions. But, when creating questions, there is a slight difference. The auxiliary verb and subject interchange their positions. The structure is – am/is/are + subject + present participle (ing).

Examples of Present Continuous

Here are examples of present continuous.

Affirmative Sentences

He is riding a horse.
She is swimming in the lake.

Negative Sentences

I am not inviting her to my house. (I (subject) + am (auxiliary verb) + not (negative) + inviting (present participle with “ing”)).
She is not eating an apple. (She (subject) + is (auxiliary verb) + not (negative) + eating (present participle with “ing”)).

Questions

Is she laughing at me? (Is (auxiliary verb) + she (subject) + laughing (present participle with “ing”)).
Am I irritating you with my questions? (Am (auxiliary verb) + I (subject) + irritating (present participle with “ing”)).
Why is he staring at me? (Is (auxiliary verb) + he (subject) + staring (present participle with “ing”)).

Sources

Inside this article

Tags:

Tenses

Fact checked:
Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.

About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.