Present
Continuous
What is happening right now? Use am / is / are + -ing for things that are going on while you speak. Look! and Listen! are its typical calls.
For teachers
- The “What are they doing?” game. One student silently acts out an activity (reading, eating, talking on the phone). The class says: He is reading! Movement and sentence happen together, so the “right now” feeling sticks.
- Look out of the window. Students look outside and say what is happening: A man is walking. It is raining. A real scene is the most natural example.
- Side by side with the present simple. Draw two columns: “Every day” and “Right now”. Students build two sentences with the same verb: I drink tea every day. I am drinking tea now. The strongest reinforcement for classes that have done topic 9.
- A short list for stative verbs. Make a “no -ing, even right now” card for know, like, love, want, need. Have students write sentences and let the class correct the wrong ones.
- Pair interview: students ask each other What are you doing? Are you listening? and keep the answers short. The question pattern and short answers work together.
- Do the “Type it” level with books closed. Students apply the -ing spelling rules (drop e, double the letter) themselves.
Topic order
Related pages
What it's for
The main use: an action happening now. I am reading a book. She is watching TV. The children are playing in the garden. The action is going on while you speak. Now, right now, at the moment, today and Look! / Listen! are its typical signals.
The form: am / is / are + -ing. I am, he / she / it is, you / we / they are: I'm working. She's sleeping. They're running. The negative uses am not / isn't / aren't, and questions start with the verb: Are you listening? Is he sleeping? Am I late? Short answers: Yes, I am. No, he isn't.
Questions with a question word. After the question word am / is / are comes forward: What are you doing? Where is she going? Why are they laughing? The order is “question word + be + subject + -ing”.
These days and temporary situations. It is also used for things that are not exactly happening this second but are going on around now: I'm studying English this year. He's staying with us this week. These days, this week, this year point to a temporary period.
-ing spelling and stative verbs. A silent e drops (make → making), a short vowel plus one consonant doubles it (run → running), ie becomes ying (lie → lying). Stative verbs such as know, like, love, want, need, have (possess) don't take -ing: I know the answer. (I am knowing). Not for habits: with every day, usually use the present simple.
The patterns side by side
| Positive | am / is / are + -ing | I am working. She is sleeping. |
| Negative | am not / isn't / aren't + -ing | I am not working. They aren't playing. |
| Question | Am / Is / Are + subject + -ing? | Are you listening? Is he sleeping? |
| Short answer | Yes, I am. · No, he isn't. | Is she working? Yes, she is. |
| Question word | Question word + am / is / are + subject + -ing? | What are you doing? Where is she going? |
| -ing spelling | drop e · double a short vowel + consonant · ie → ying | make → making, run → running, lie → lying |
Signals: which tense?
Don't skip the last three rows: repeated times such as every day and stative verbs such as know, like, want ask for the present simple. The present continuous means “going on now”, not “does it regularly”.
Common mistakes
and who tends to make themThese eight mistakes turn up in classrooms everywhere. Three sources explain most of them: leaving out am / is / are, leaving the verb without -ing, and mixing up the present simple and the present continuous. Under each one you'll see who tends to make it.
Why: -ing alone doesn't make the tense. You need am / is / are: He is playing. Many languages have no auxiliary here, so learners forget it.
Who makes it: Beginners at A1, especially speakers of languages where the progressive has no separate auxiliary.
Why: After am / is / are the verb takes -ing, not the base form. There is no am read here.
Who makes it: Learners who have learned am / is / are but not yet connected it with -ing.
Why: Make the negative with am not / isn't / aren't + -ing. Doesn't belongs to the present simple and is not used with -ing.
Who makes it: Learners who have just learned don't / doesn't and use it for every negative.
Why: A present continuous question starts with Am / Is / Are, not do / does. Do / does belong only to the present simple.
Who makes it: The same learners, in questions.
Why: Know, like, love, want, need, believe describe a state, not an activity, so they take the present simple. “Right now” makes learners add -ing.
Who makes it: Learners who think -ing sounds more natural or more fluent, and speakers of languages where states can take the progressive.
Why: A short vowel plus one final consonant doubles the consonant: run → running, sit → sitting. A silent e drops: make → making, write → writing. Ie becomes ying: lie → lying.
Who makes it: Learners from languages with very regular spelling, who treat -ing as a fixed ending.
Why: After the question word am / is / are comes before the subject: What are you doing? Where is she going? The sentence doesn't keep statement word order.
Who makes it: Beginners from languages where a question keeps statement word order and only the intonation or a small word changes.
Why: Repeated times such as every day, usually, always ask for the present simple. A Turkish-style -iyorum (“gidiyorum”) misleads here.
Who makes it: Speakers of languages with one present form for habits and the moment of speaking (Spanish, French and Italian in speech, Turkish).