Present Continuous tense

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1. Uses of the present continuous

In English, the Present Continuous tense is usually used to express continuing, ongoing actions which are taking place at the moment of speaking or writing. In the examples given below, the verbs in the Present Continuous tense are underlined.

e.g. Right now I am cooking supper.

At the moment the plane is flying over the Gulf of St. Lawrence.



The Present Continuous tense is often used in conversation.

e.g. "What are you doing?"

"I am working on my English assignment."



Occasionally, the Present Continuous tense is used to refer to a future event.

e.g. We are leaving tomorrow.



2. Formation of the present continuous



The Present Continuous tense of any verb is formed from the Simple Present of the auxiliary to be, followed by what is generally referred to as the present participle of the verb.



The present participle of a verb is formed by adding ing to the bare infinitive. For instance, the present participle of the verb to work is working.



Thus, the Present Continuous tense of the verb to work is conjugated as follows:





I am working

you are working

he is working

she is working

it is working

we are working

they are working



See Exercise 1.



3. Spelling rules for the formation of the present participle



Some verbs change their spelling when the ending ing is added to form the present participle.



a. Verbs ending in a silent e

When a verb ends in a silent e, the silent e is dropped before the ending ing is added. For example:





Infinitive Present Participle

to close closing

to dine dining

to leave leaving

to move moving



However, when a verb ends in an e which is not silent, the final e is not dropped before the ending ing is added. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to be being

to see seeing



b. Verbs ending in ie

When a verb ends in ie, the ie is changed to y before the ending ing is added. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to die dying

to lie lying



When a verb ends in y, no change is made before the ending is added. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to fly flying

to play playing



See Exercise 2.



c. One-syllable verbs ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel

Except in the case of the final consonants w, x and y, when a one-syllable verb ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant must be doubled before the ending ing is added. The reason for this is to reflect the fact that the pronunciation of the single vowel does not change when the ending ing is added.



English vowels have a variety of pronunciations. For instance, each English vowel has two contrasting pronunciations, which are sometimes referred to as short and long. Vowels which are followed by two consonants, and vowels which are followed by a single consonant at the end of a word, are generally pronounced short. In contrast, vowels which are followed by a single consonant followed by another vowel are generally pronounced long.



In the table below, the underlined vowels in the left-hand column are pronounced short; whereas the underlined vowels in the right-hand column are pronounced long. For example:



Short Vowels Long Vowels

fat fate

tapping taping

let delete

win wine

filling filing

not note

hopping hoping

flutter flute



Thus, in the case of most one-syllable verbs ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the vowel is pronounced short. In order to reflect the fact that the vowel is also pronounced short in the corresponding present participle, except in the case of w, x and y, the final consonant must be doubled before the ending ing is added.



In the following examples, the consonants which have been doubled are

underlined. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to nod nodding

to dig digging

to run running

to clap clapping

to set setting



When a verb ends in w, x or y preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is not doubled before the ending is added. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to draw drawing

to fix fixing

to say saying



It should also be noted that when a verb ends in a single consonant preceded by two vowels, the final consonant is not doubled before the ending is added. The reason for this is that two vowels together are generally pronounced long. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to rain raining

to read reading

to meet meeting

to soak soaking



See Exercise 3.



d. Verbs of more than one syllable which end in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel

When a verb of more than one syllable ends in a single consonant other than w, x or y preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled to form the present participle only when the last syllable of the verb is pronounced with the heaviest stress.



For instance, in the following examples, the last syllables of the verbs have the heaviest stress, and the final consonants are doubled to form the present participles. In these examples, the syllables pronounced with the heaviest stress are underlined. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to expel expelling

to begin beginning

to occur occurring

to omit omitting



When a verb of more than one syllable ends in w, x or y, the final consonant is not doubled before the ending ing is added. In the following examples, the syllables pronounced with the heaviest stress are underlined. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to allow allowing

to affix affixing

to convey conveying



When the last syllable of a verb is not pronounced with the heaviest stress, the final consonant is usually not doubled to form the present participle. For instance, in the following examples, the last syllables of the verbs do not have the heaviest stress, and the final consonants are not doubled to form the present participles. In these examples, the syllables pronounced with the heaviest stress are underlined. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

to listen listening

to order ordering

to focus focusing

to limit limiting



If necessary, a dictionary can be consulted to determine which syllable of a verb has the heaviest stress. Many dictionaries use symbols such as apostrophes to indicate which syllables are pronounced with the heaviest stress.



See Exercise 4.



It should be noted that British and American spelling rules differ for verbs which end in a single l preceded by a single vowel. In British spelling, the l is always doubled before the endings ing and ed

are added. However, in American spelling, verbs ending with a single l follow the same rule as other verbs; the l is doubled only when the last syllable has the heaviest stress. In the following examples, the syllables with the heaviest stress are underlined. For example:



Infinitive Present Participle

American Spelling British Spelling

to signal signaling signalling

to travel traveling travelling



to compel compelling compelling

to propel propelling propelling



From these examples it can be seen that the American and British spellings for verbs ending in a single l differ only when the last syllable does not have the heaviest stress.



4. Questions and negative statements



a. Questions

In the Present Continuous, the verb to be acts as an auxiliary. As is the case with other English tenses, it is the auxiliary which is used to form questions and negative statements.



To form a question in the Present Continuous tense, the auxiliary is placed before the subject. For example:



Affirmative Statement Question

I am working. Am I working?

You are working. Are you working?

He is working. Is he working?

She is working. Is she working?

It is working. Is it working?

We are working. Are we working?

They are working. Are they working?



See Exercise 5.



b. Negative statements

To form a negative statement, the word not is added after the auxiliary. For example:



Affirmative Statement Negative Statement

I am working. I am not working.

You are working. You are not working.

He is working. He is not working.

She is working. She is not working.

It is working. It is not working.

We are working. We are not working.

They are working. They are not working.



See Exercise 6.



c. Negative questions

To form a negative question, the auxiliary is placed before the subject, and the word not is placed after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately after the auxiliary. Although there is no universally accepted contraction for am not, the expression aren't I? is often used in spoken English. For example:



Without Contractions With Contractions

Am I not working? [Aren't I working?] - used in speaking

Are you not working? Aren't you working?

Is he not working? Isn't he working?

Is she not working? Isn't she working?

Is it not working? Isn't it working?

Are we not working? Aren't we working?

Are they not working? Aren't they working?



See Exercise 7.



d. Tag questions

Tag questions are also formed using the auxiliary. In the following examples, the tag questions are underlined. In spoken English, aren't I? is often used as a tag question. For example:



Affirmative Statement Affirmative Statement with Tag Question

I am working. I am working, am I not?

You are working. You are working, aren't you?

He is working. He is working, isn't he?

She is working. She is working, isn't she?

It is working. It is working, isn't it?

We are working. We are working, aren't we?

They are working. They are working, aren't they?



See Exercise 8.



5. Comparison of the uses of the simple present and present continuous



As pointed out in Chapter 1, the Simple Present tense may be used for stating general truths, and for referring to actions which occur at regular intervals. In the following examples, the verbs in the Simple Present tense are underlined.

e.g. Nova Scotia is a Canadian province. Geese fly south every winter.



In contrast, the Present Continuous tense is usually used to refer to ongoing actions happening at the time of speaking or writing. In the following examples, the verbs in the Present Continuous tense are underlined.

e.g. Right now, I am visiting the province of Nova Scotia. At the moment, a flock of geese is flying overhead.