5 ways to use the PRESENT CONTINUOUS verb tense in English

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• published: 19 Mar 2016
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If you think the present continuous is only used to talk about actions that are happening in the present, think again. In this grammar lesson, I look at five different ways the present continuous (also called present progressive) can be used, including a pre-arranged future plan, an event that is happening during a particular period, repeated behaviors, and temporary situations. This is a great way to refresh what you already know about the present continuous and to expand on it. After watching, I am hoping you will check your understanding by completing the quiz at http://www.engvid.com/5-ways-to-use-the-present-continuous-verb-tense-in-english/ TRANSCRIPT Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on five ways to use the present continuous, or present progressive, depending on which grammar book you read. So, today, we are going to look at five different ways that we use this very, very common grammar tense. Now, if you're watching this video, you might say: "Okay, I know the present continuous. I use it to talk about an action that is happening right now." Or maybe you're a little more advanced, and you say: "Okay, you can use it for an action happening now, and I know I can use it for future actions, too." This is correct. These are two ways that we're going to talk about today, but there will also be three more ways. So just to begin, as a reminder, this is the structure of the present continuous. You have a subject, the verb "to be", and a verb+ing. For example: I (subject) am (verb "to be") studying (verb+ing). "I am studying" is a present continuous sentence. Now, let's look at the five ways that we can use this tense. Number one, the most basic one: An action that is happening at this moment. -"What are you doing?" -"I'm watching YouTube videos." Okay? "I am studying.", "I am reading.", "I am listening to music." Now, in this moment. And, again, the most common question in this situation is: -"Hey. What are you doing?" -"I am doing this." Number two: An action that is happening during this period of time. Now, this means the period of time in your life right now, maybe the past week, two weeks, a few months. For example: "Hey. Are you still practicing piano?" You're not practicing piano at this moment, but practicing piano is something you do or have been doing in your life for a while. So, for example, you can say, you know: "Hey. What are you doing? Where do you go to school?" blah, blah, blah, and a person can say: "Oh, I'm studying at the University of", wherever. Okay? So if a person asks you: -"Where do you study?" -"I am studying at this university" or "this school". You are not studying there right now in the moment, but in your life this is happening right now. Number three: An action that is prearranged in the future. So this means you are almost 100% certain that this action or this event will happen, is going to happen. So, for example: -"What are you doing tomorrow?" -"Tomorrow? We're going to New York tomorrow. We are going 100%." Other examples: "My mom is visiting me this weekend.", "I'm seeing a movie tomorrow.", "I'm watching a play with my cousin." Okay? So anything where it's scheduled, it's prearranged, it's preplanned, you're almost 100% sure it's going to happen in the future. You can also use the present continuous in this way. One thing about number three is depending on, you know, who your grammar teacher is, you might hear sometimes: "You only use the present continuous if it's an action that is happening in the near future." This is incorrect. Okay? You can use the present continuous to talk about actions that are definitely in the near future, like: "We're going to New York tomorrow", but you can also talk about something that's going to happen in the distant future, too, using the present continuous, like, for example: "We are going to Cuba in November." Okay? "We are travelling to Australia next year." So here are examples of present continuous for prearranged things in the future, but they can be far away. Not just near future; far future, too. Number four: A temporary event or state/situation. So a person can be acting a certain way in the moment, and maybe they don't normally act this way; it's a temporary way of acting. For example: "Why are you being so selfish?" You are acting a certain way, you are being selfish in the moment and it's temporary, and maybe normally you are not selfish. Another example is... For example, if you are in a band, and you say: "Oh, normally Jack plays guitar, but today he's playing the bass." Now, again, normally he plays the guitar. Today, temporarily, he is playing the bass.