2. THE PRESENT TENSE
THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS
In English, there is a second form of the present tense. It is used to show that an action is taking place now, at this moment in time.
It is formed by using the verb'to be' and adding 'ing' to the main stem of the verb.
She is feeding the fish. (now)
He is walking to the farm. (now)
Notice the total difference in meaning between the two forms.
- She feeds the fish.
- (This means that she does it every day, but is probably not doing it at this moment.)
- She is feeding the fish.
- (This means that she is doing it exactly at this moment, but it does not mean that she does it every day.)
Spelling of the present continuous 'ing' forms
| Regular | ||
|---|---|---|
| look | looking | They are looking at the fish scales. |
| open | opening | She is opening the sack of fish food. |
| Verbs ending in 'e' | ||
| take | taking | You are taking a long time to open the sack of food. |
| give | giving | |
| write | writing | |
| prepare | preparing | |
| examine | examining | |
| Verbs ending in one consonant | ||
| get | getting | The technician is getting the equipment ready for the blood samples. |
| stop | stopping | |
| Verbs ending in 'ie' | ||
| lie | lying | The fish is lying on the table. (one fish) |
| die | dying | The fish are dying from lack of oxygen. (several fish) |
Asking questions and making negative statements
We also ask questions and make negative statements, in the present continuous.
When we ask questions in the present continuous, we change the word order.
- What are you doing?
- I am not preparing the sample yet because I am looking in the lab for a test tube.
- What is the fish doing?
- The fish is swimming in the water.
- Where is the technician going?
- He is not going to the laboratory. He is going to make a telephone call.