TutorMove 誠補

Present Continuous Tense

Explanation

What is present continuous tense?

The present continuous tense is used when stating an ongoing action, which

1. is happening at the moment, or

2. has always been taking place in a larger sense, or

3. indicates something that is going to happens in the near future.

Examples

Happening at the moment	I am doing my homework right now.
Taking place in a larger sense	She is learning Spanish.
Happening in the near future	They are visiting their parents next summer holiday.

How to form the simple present tense?

1. Positive Form

First person singular	I	am	studying.
Second person singular	You	are	studying.
Third person singular	He/She/It	is	studying.
First person plural	We	are	studying.
Second person plural	You	are	studying.
Third person plural	They	are	studying.

Conclusion:

The positive present continuous tense is formed by “is/am/are + present participle (現在分詞)” .

We use “is” after He/She/It, “am” after I and “are” after You/We/They.

Present participle (現在分詞) is formed by verb + -ing. We can also use short form:

I’m	studying.
You’re
He’s/She’s/It’s
You’re
We’re
They’re

2. Negative Form

First person singular	I	am not	studying.
Second person singular	You	are not	studying.
Third person singular	He/She/It	is not	studying.
First person plural	We	are not	studying.
Second person plural	You	are not	studying.
Third person plural	They	are not	studying.

Conclusion:

The negative present continuous tense is formed by “is/am/are not + present participle (現在分詞)” .

We use “is not” after He/She/It, “am not” after I and “are not” after You/We/They.

We can also use short form:

I’m not	studying.
You aren’t
He isn’t /She isn’t /It isn’t
You aren’t
We aren’t
They aren’t

3. Yes/No Questions

First person singular	Am	I	running?
Second person singular	Are	you	running?
Third person singular	Is	he/she/it	running?
First person plural	Are	we	running?
Second person plural	Are	you	running?
Third person plural	Are	they	running?

Conclusion:

Yes/No questions under the present continuous tense are formed by “Is/Am/Are + subject (主語) + present participle (現在分詞)” .

We use “Is” before He/She/It, “Am” before I and “Are” before You/We/They.

4. Wh-word Questions

First person singular	Where	am	I	going?
Second person singular	Where	are	you	going?
Third person singular	Where	is	he/she/it	going?
First person plural	Where	are	we	going?
Second person plural	Where	are	you	going?
Third person plural	Where	are	they	going?

Conclusion:

Wh-word questions under the present continuous tense are formed by “Wh-word + is/am/are + subject (主語) + present participle (現在分詞)” .

We use “is” before He/She/It, “am” before I and “are” before You/We/They.

Present participle (現在分詞) Spelling Rules

- Basic principle

We directly add -ing to the verb.

Examples

Eat(eating), do(doing), touch(touching), fix(fixing), cry(crying)

- When the verb ends with -e

We take away -e and add -ing to the verb.

Examples

Come(coming), write(writing), smoke(smoking), dance(dancing), bake(baking), smile(smiling)

- When the verb ends with -ie

We replace -ie with -y and add -ing to the verb.

Examples

Lie(lying), die(dying), tie(tying), underlie(underlying)

- When the verb ends with single consonants(輔音) after single vowels(元音)

We write the last consonant twice.

Examples

Swim(swimming), shop(shopping), sit(sitting), run(running), stop(stopping)

Vowels: a, e, i, o, u

Consonants : letters other than vowels

What if the subject is not a pronoun (代詞)?

Third person singular	Jane is feeding her cat.
	Tom is not (isn’t) studying.
	Is my mum eating?
	Why is my dog barking?
Third person plural	Tom and Jerry are playing hide-and-seek.
	My classmates are not (aren’t) joining.
	Are your parents coming?
	What are Ben and Anne writing?

These tutorial materials are written by TutorMove's Five Star Tutors.

Only allow for personal learning and tutoring purposes.

Free Download (免費下載)

< Back To Grammar List