Present Continuous Tense Affirmative statements, negative statements, yes/no questions and information questions Click to advance to the next slide. Robert F. van Trieste This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Uses of Present Continuous Used with action verbs, such as work, write, talk and eat. Not used with stative verbs (verbs of state) Emotions Cognition Possession Sense love believe have smell hate think belong taste like mean possess see respect understand own hear need know feel want remember dislike Not used with all verbs. Not used with stative verbs, such as, have, love, hate, smell This is not a complete list of all stative verbs. Note: some of these verbs sometimes have non-stative uses. E.g., We’re having a party. Senses as actions: e.g., The soup tastes salty [sense] vs. Ben is tasting the soup [action] BE and other linking verbs are not used in present continuous.

Time References of Present Continuous Can refer to: moment of speaking/writing Philip is washing the dishes. temporary general present Orlando is taking three courses this term. future time I am working overtime tomorrow night. Of course moment of speaking/writing is also temporary. But the time reference is relatively short. These uses of the present continuous contrast with the use of the simple present tense. For most verbs, the simple present tense implies a permanent situation, or a habit or routine that began in the past and will probably continue into the future. By contrast, the present continuous indicates nothing about the past– we don’t know if Philip ever washed dishes before in his life– and does not imply that the situation will continue into the future. We don’t know if Philip will ever wash dishes again. To express future time, a future time reference is necessary in the context. It may be in the same sentence as the present continuous verb or it may be in a preceding sentence or question. For example, if someone asks the question “What are you doing tomorrow night?” An appropriate answer is “I am working.” We understand that the time is future because the question contains the future time reference tomorrow night.

Present Continuous: Affirmative Subject am/is/are main verb -ing rest of sentence Philip is washing the dishes. Emma and Enid are cooking dinner. The students taking a math test now. You making a big mistake. Orlando three courses this term. Laura writing a book of poems. I am working overtime tomorrow night. My cousin arriving at six o’clock tonight.

Present Continuous: Negative Subject am/is/are not main verb -ing rest of sentence Philip is washing the dishes. Emma and Enid are cooking dinner. The students taking a math test now. You making a big mistake. I am working overtime tomorrow night. My cousin arriving at six o’clock tonight. Not is placed after the auxiliary am / is / are to form negative sentences. The normal pattern for the negative in English is to place not after the first auxiliary. am, is, and are sometimes contract with the preceding pronoun or noun. For example: I+am = I’m and Irma+is = Irma’s. is and are sometimes contract with not: is+not = isn’t and are+not = aren’t.

Present Continuous: Yes /No Questions Am /Is /Are Subject Main Verb -ing Rest Is Karla’s uncle fixing her computer ? Are you taking a math class this term ? his cousins coming to his graduation party ? Jon eating his lunch right now? Don’t usually ask ourselves questions.

Present Continuous: Information Questions Wh-word am /is / are Subject Main Verb Rest What is your friend writing on the envelop ? Why are you crying ? Where the boys going ? Whose car Pedro driving ? When Jane and José buying a new laptop ? Who fixing you car ?

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