How to make the Present Continuous Tense?

If you already understand the Present Continuous Tense and you know when to use it and you know why you need the -ing ending, you can move to next step. In this part of the Present Continuous Tense I would like to show you how to make the Present Continuous Tense.

Fortunately, making sentences in the Present Continuous Tense is not very complicated. All you need to use is the verb ‘to be’ (am, is, are) which is the auxilary verb (the helping verb) here and a verb with the -ing ending. See below how to make the Present Continuous positve, negative and question sentences.

The Present Continuous Positive Form

In order to make the Present Continuous positive form, you use the verb ‘to be’ and a verb with the -ing ending. For example:

• Subject (a person or a thing) + to be + verb -ing
  • I /work/ in our garden. – I am working in our garden. (I’m working in our garden.)
  • You /wash/ your car. – You are washing your car. (You’re washing your car.)
  • He /listen/ to music. – He is listening to music. (He’s listening to music.)

As you can see, it is not very difficult to make The Present Continuous positive form. Now, we can move on to the Present Continuous negative form.

The Present Continuous Negative Form

In order to make the Present Continuous negative form, you use the verb ‘to be’ + not + a verb with the -ing ending. For example:

• Subject (a person or a thing) + to be + not + verb-ing
  • She /do/ her homework. – She is not doing her homework. (She isn’t doing her homework.)
  • It /rain/. – It is not raining. (It isn’t raining.)
  • The cat /catch/a mouse. – The cat is not catching a mouse. (The cat isn’t catching a mouse.)

I guess that making the Present Continuous negative form is not very complicated for you. We can move on to the Present Continuous question form.

The Present Continuous Question Form

In order to make the Present Continuous question form, you use the verb ‘to be’ but you must change its order. You must put the verb ‘to be’ before the subject (a person, a thing) and, of course, use a verb with the -ing ending. For example:

• To be + subject (a person or a thing) + verb-ing
  • We /visit/ our aunt tomorrow? – Are we visiting our aunt tomorrow?
  • You /study/ for the test? – Are you studying fot the test?
  • They /come/ at 9 p.m.? – Are they coming at 9 p.m.?

For sure, the Present Continuous question form does not make much trouble for you as well. The Present Continuous positive, negative and question forms are super easy to make. If you know how the verb ‘to be’ works you should not have any problems with forming the Present Continuous Tense.

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Present Continuous Practice

If you already know how to make the Present Continuous Tense, it’s time for some Present Continuous practice! I have got four quizes for you.

The first task deals with the Present Continuous positve form. You must focus on the proper verb ‘to be’ and on the ing spelling rules. This Present Continuous practice seems to be easy but it is tricky. Be very attentive.

The second exercise also deals with the Present Continuous positive form but this time you do not have the ready answers to chose. You must write the proper forms on your own. you can use full or short forms, e.g., I am doing or I’m doing.

The third quiz deals with all forms of the Present Continuous Tense. Your task is to form positive, negative or question sentences.

The last Present Continuous Practice deals with the short answers. Read the Present Continuous question sentences, use the given prompts and answer the questions using the short answers.

Do the quizes as many time as you need. Do not focus only on the structure itself but reading the sentences consider the Present Continuous uses as well. The more effort and practice you put at the beginning, the faster you will understand and remember. Be mindful of what you are learning 🙂

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