The present continuous in English is used for actions that are not completed at the moment of speech. If I'm running right now or waiting for the tram, I'll need it to tell others what I'm doing.
Time can be conditionally divided into three types: the present moment of speech, the length of time and the present actual constant. The purpose of all three is to convey the current state of reality at the time of utterance.
Use
The present continuous tense in English makes it possible to talk about processes. It is used when a person describes:
- actions that occur at the moment of speech: I am waiting for breakfast (I'm waiting for breakfast);
- trends: Parents are spending less and less time with their children (Parents spend less and less time with their children);
- future planned events: I am visiting my grandmother on Sunday (I visit my grandmother on Sunday);
- actions developing in a certain period of the present (day,week, month, year): My father is living with my brother (My father lives with my brother);
- repetitive annoying actions: Why the hell are you always screaming? (Why the hell are you yelling all the time?).
Yu. G. Shugailo notes that, basically, in colloquial speech, the use of Continuous is a way to draw the attention of the interlocutor to what is happening, to give importance to the process of action.
Building sentences
As you can see, what is described can occur at the moment of speech, or be repeated, or be constant at some period of life. Time is often used to add energy, emotionality, dynamism to the text.
| Statement | subject + am/are/is + verb with -ing | Sara, the bus is leaving! | Sarah, the bus is leaving! |
| Denial | subject + am/are/is + not + verb with -ing | He is not leaving his room for two days | He hasn't left his room for two days. |
| Question | am/are/is + subject + verb c -ing | So, when are you leaving? | So when are you leaving? |
In colloquial English, approximately 70% of verbs are used in the present tense, of which 5% have a continuous aspect. Present Continuous is the fifth time out of twelve in terms of frequency of use.
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I am=I'm We/you/they are=We/you/they're She/he/it is=She/he/it's |
I'm not We/you/they aren't=We/you/they're not She/he/it isn't=She/he/it's not |
Tense and verbs
State verbs (I love, I know, I believe, etc.) are often not used with the present continuous tense in English. The rule applies to the verbs of sensations, qualities, feelings and thoughts.
Some of these verbs can still appear in speech with this tense (for example, like, look, sound) to emphasize the short duration of the experience expressed by the verb. Other verbs (cost, feel, have, etc.) have different meanings when they are a description of a state or when they describe a process (appear - to appear, appearing - to participate).
Something similar can be noted about verbs that speak about thought processes, experiences. In Present Continuous, such verbs reflect the process of a person thinking about something specific, formulating a conclusion by the speaker, gradually realizing something. For example, I am regretting my decision to give her the job=I am becoming more and more convinced that the decision to give her the job was wrong.
What to use?
The present continuous and the present simple are often confused. In Russian, there is no separation between facts, repetitive processes and what is happening directly, in English there is.
Simple is used to refer to repeated actions and facts. AspectContinuous emphasizes that an action is happening at a given moment or period of time. Thus, Simple expresses an irrelevant present, something that is constantly presented in reality, reproducible and not tied to a specific point on the time axis. Continuous, in this case, expresses the actual, tied to a certain point - the moment of the speaker's speech.
Thanks to this distinction, it is quite easy to determine whether it is grammatically correct to say about an event in a simple or continuous aspect. If it does not refer to a period that includes the moment of speech, then you should not use Continuous.
The present continuous in English can be used to describe plans for the future. When should you prioritize it over a simple future? In all cases when the speaker is 100% sure that the plan is being fulfilled. For example, the statement "I'm flying to London tomorrow" is a statement of the future state, which for the speaker is practically an obligation.
The present continuous tense in English is used not only in the present. It is used when telling stories (and conveying some process in the story) and when writing reviews of books, films or plays.
English exercises
A. What phrases in Russian translated into English are best said using the present continuous?
- Hi, I'm at the train station, waiting for a train.
- The cat usually sleeps on the bed.
- Are you listening to me?
- What are you doing here?
- I read everyevening.
- I decided to go to the park tomorrow.
- We're going to the match on Thursday.
B. In which sentences do verbs have the wrong tense for the context?
- We plan to explore the moon.
- I am checking my email every day.
- Julie is usually working in an office, but she works from home this week.
- I study Economics now.
- Our cat doesn't run towards us, because it sleeps.
S. How to fill in the blanks?
- It's over _. I _ town on a midnight train [leave, now].
- Can I phone you _? We _ our dinner [eat, later].
- He's unemployed. Now he _ all day on the couch [sleep].
- (movie reviews) The main characters _, and the filmmakers are likewise improving on their craft [mature].
- Are you _ to me right now? [listen].
In general, Present Continuous is used to emphasize an action as a process unfolding now or in a period of time related to the present. Literally, the construction of the auxiliary verb and the participle can be translated (using the example of the first person singular) as "I am such and such": I am leaving=I am leaving. Thus, time allows you to talk about an object / person as something that is in action for a long period of time or right now.
Answers for English exercises:
A: 1, 3, 4, 7;
B: 2, 3, 4, 5;
C: 1. now, am leaving; 2. later, are eating; 3.sleep; 4. are maturing; 5.listening.
