Present progressive or present progressive: rules of use

Present progressive or present progressive (present continuous) is a designation of a real long time in English. The article will give the grammatical foundations of the use of this time in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms of sentences. After each definition and at the end of the article, examples will be given with translation for fixing.

Basic rules for use

So, what are the rules for the progressive present and how to use it? As said, it is used for actions in the present that are in the process: right now, in the near future or in the current period.

The sentence diagram with the affirmative form of a given tense consists of a pronoun with an auxiliary part (am, is, are), indicating the present tense (to be) + a conjunction of the verb with the ending -ing.

To date, the binder to be has three forms. It depends on which person the narrative is going on and their number:

• I. I am
• He | She | It. He | She | It is
• You | They | We. You | We | They are

The ending -ing should be added to the verb form:

• To read. Read - Reading
• Watch. Watch - Watching
• To swim. Swim - Swimming

So, speaking on your own, you need to use the auxiliary verb am: I am reading. I am reading or: I do. I am doing.

When is the present long tense used in English?

In English, there are several options when using a progressive present. Here are four directions:

1. The present long time points to the process taking place at the moment of speech: I am watching a film. I am watching a movie. This distinguishes it from the time of the present simple description , which is used for actions that occur periodically or continuously: Every year I watch this movie on Christmas. Every year I watch this movie in Christmas.
2. Also, the progressive present describes some temporary phenomenon that may not occur right now, but is relevant in the current period. For example: I am preparing for the exam. I'm getting ready for the exam. Here the action is indicated not at this minute / second, but at the current interval and for a certain period (before passing the exam).
3. Another example of a present is progressive: for some action that is planned in the near future. For example: We are leaving on Friday. We are leaving this Friday. Please note that before the designation of the day of the week in this sentence is the pretext on. In any other sentences in English, this preposition is put before the day of the week.
4. And the next case when they use it for a long time is to describe actions or phenomena in which something is expressed in a negative way. For this, adverbs are usually used, which can be translated into Russian as "constantly" or "forever", it is always / constantly. For example: She forever loses her cell phone. She is always losing her cellphone.

Verbs not used in Present Progressive

Are there any cases when the verb is not used? As a rule, a progressive present is not used with static verbs that indicate a certain state - static verbs. These include words that describe processes in relation to sensory, mental perception or attitude. They mean a certain activity that occurs in the mind, and the person does not have the opportunity to observe them.

These verbs include the following: feel - to feel, think - to think, love - to love, need - to need, to mean - mean, mean, and others. As you can see, these words indicate a kind of thinking or sensation. Due to the fact that the Progressive indicates a certain duration of action, these verbs are not used.

Using present progressive in negative forms

To build a sentence with negation, you need to add the not particle to the auxiliary verb.

For instance:

1. I am not translating the article now. I am not translating the article now.
2. He is not swimming right now. He is not swimming now.
3. They don’t watch TV now. They are not watching TV now.

Spoken English actively uses abbreviated forms with personal pronouns. Instead of missing letters, an apostrophe (') is inserted. Abbreviated forms are more applicable to oral speech, however, and in writing are often used: in newspapers, messages, advertising signs.

For instance:

1. No, I do not drive a car now. No, I'm not driving a car now.
2. She is not trying to learn a poem. She isn't trying to learn a poem.
3. They are not skating now. They aren't skating now.

Use in a sentence-question

To build an interrogative sentence, you need to transfer the auxiliary verb in front of the subject, answering the question: who? what?

For instance:

1. Am I reading Lermontov’s poem now? Am I reading a poem of Lermontov now?
2. Does she go to the museum? Is she going to the museum?
3. Do they work in the garden now? Are they working in the garden now?

Offers with Present Progressive

So, for greater assimilation, we give a few phrases with the affirmative, negative and interrogative form of a real long time in English with translation:

1. Look! Snow goes. Look! It is snowing now.
2. Ira is writing a letter now. Ira is writing a letter now.
3. Coldly. The wind is getting stronger. It is cold. Wind is getting stronger.
4. Where are you going? - I'm going to go to the department store. Where are you going? - I am going to the emporium.
5. She is cooking panna cotta. She is cooking panna cotta.
6. What is he doing? - He is working on a report. What is he doing? - He is working on the report.
7. Teachers like this evening. Teachers are enjoying the evening.
8. He constantly talks in meetings. He is constantly chattering on meetings.
9. What are you doing? - I watch a morning television show. What are you doing? - I am watching morning TV show.
10. They are playing chess now. They are playing chess now.

Conclusion

The present long time is very often used in English: in oral and written speech, in literature. Based on the name of time itself, it is already possible to understand that it describes the action in a progressive state. Present progressive in English grammar points to a process that lasts in the present. However, there are a number of verbs that are not used in the Progressive tense - these are verbs of sensory perception and mental activity.