If we are talking about the most used tenses in English, then the first place rightfully belongs to the Simple group. Although, using only this group of tenses, even the UK cannot be reached, and therefore it is necessary to work on expanding the capabilities of the language. Here, the second most used group of tenses, Continuous, will serve us well. Just like the rest of the group, it consists of past, present and future tenses.
Meaning
How to deal with all these present tenses, they are all "real" after all? Great difficulty arises in distinguishing between Present Simple and Present Continuous, but everything is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.
Present Continuous we use when the action is performed directly at the moment of speech, we can observe the process of the action itself.
Here is an example:
A shark eats a man. - Shark eats man
Comment: the shark basically eats people, let's say this is her "usual" occupation, which she does with somethen periodicity (maybe every day, every week, every month, etc.). And now let's turn to Present Continuous:
The shark is eating a man. - Shark eats (eats) a person
Commentary: A shark is eating a person right in front of us (we can see this because we are standing on the shore and are horrified by the picture unfolding before our eyes). It is in the process of absorbing a person, so we use the Present Continuous. Time marker words can also help you here: at the moment (at the moment), now (now).
Education
So, let's move on to education. To get Present Continuous we need to use:
| To be + | V + ing |
To be - the auxiliary verb "to be", is consistent with different subjects and acquires the forms am, is, are in the present tense. V is the verb you need, ing is the ending of this verb, expressing a long process.
Talking about our plans
Now that we know how Present Continuous is formed, let's turn to the rule with going to. It will be extremely helpful if you want to let us know what you are going to do.
Let's give the rules and examples on be going to, this time we take an example without a shark.
The monkey is going to eat a banana. - The monkey is going to eat a banana (if there were a lot of these monkeys, then we replace is with are)
Comment: she hasn't eaten it yet, she only plans to do so (if the monkeys know how to plan, of course).
This is a fairly simple form of the future tense - the going to rule. You can also transfer this construction to the past time plane to indicate that someone was planning to do something. For example:
The monkey was going to eat a banana. - The monkey was going to eat a banana (again, if there were a lot of hungry monkeys, then we change was to were)
The rule for was/were going to is used in the same way, only it denotes the past tense.
Attention! We must not forget that in English the go/goes rule (the Present Simple form) does not serve to denote the same meaning!
Jack goes to the park every day. - Jack goes to the park every day
Comment: Not a day goes by without Jack going to the park.
Jack is going to go to the park. - Jack is going to the park
Comment: He planned to go to the park. The rule on going to go is used in the meaning of "get ready to go (go) somewhere".
Meaning of the future tense
Surprisingly, Present Continuous can mean not only the present. In addition to the rule going to and expressing the action at the moment of speech, it is used to indicate the future tense. How is it different from the Future Simple? Let's look at an example.
I'm going to the party tomorrow. - I'm going to a party tomorrow
Comment: I have already decided for sure that I will go to a party tomorrow, nothing will change myplans because I planned to do it.
I'll go to the party tomorrow - I'm going to the party tomorrow
Comment: I'm going to the party, but it's not certain yet. I may or may not come (depending on how boring the party is going to be).
What conclusion can be drawn? We use the Present Continuous in the meaning of the future tense when we have already decided to do something. For example:
I'm watching "America's Next Top Model" this Monday
If we doubt whether an event will happen or not, that is, we are not completely sure, we can change plans at any time:
I'll go to the dentist this Monday
Other values
In addition to the above functions, I would like to draw attention to a few more useful meanings of Present Continuous. This section is for those who decide to plunge into the "pool" of the English language with their heads and for whom three meanings of a long time are not enough.
It is also suitable for describing an action that is constantly repeated and annoys one of the interlocutors. In these sentences, you will always find either the word "constantly" (constantly), or "all the time" (all the time), or "always" (always)
Example:
Ann is always smoking in the house! It's unsupportable! - Ann always smokes in the house! This is unbearable
Comment: Ann smokes so much in the house that it annoys everyone. Toto express our irritation or dissatisfaction with a constantly occurring action, we use not Present Simple, but Present Continuous (to increase the emotional load of the phrase).
Present Continuous is used when an action lasts for a certain period of time. Gone to London for a couple of months? Or on vacation for a couple of weeks? Or will you take a drawing course for a couple of days? Then use Present Continuous
Example:
We're staying in Washington for a couple of days - We're staying in Washington for a couple of days
We can refer to Present Continuous if we want to describe an object that is constantly changing, does not stand still. The process goes on continuously, and the emphasis on the duration of the action in time reflects precisely the Present Continuous
For example:
- Your son is growing quickly. - Your son is growing fast (he never stops growing no matter what).
- Life is changing so fast! - Life is changing so fast (it's always changing, you can't help but agree).
This tense can also be used to describe a temporary state or event. Usually, the words until (not yet), during (during), for (during) are used to convey this value
For example:
Emily is working as a waitress until she moves to London. - Emily works as a waitress until she moves to London
Comment: She won't be a waitress all her life, this is her temporary job only until she moves to London. If we said she works as awaitress, we would mean that she works as a full-time waitress (what she does in life).
Conclusion
The rules of Present Continuous are not as complicated as in other tenses. We tried to explain in the most accessible way in our article what's what. We hope that this helped you at least a little to understand the wilds of the English language.
