Present Continuous

• Form: I                     am playing

            We/you/they    are playing

                He/she /it         is playing

• Use

• We use the present continuous in the following cases :

• To express a situation that  is happening at the moment of speaking.

e.g. He is repairing his car .

       John and Emma are working on the homework.

• To talk about changes.

e.g. This city is developing rapidly

       The population of China is rising speedily

• To talk indicate future arrangements.

e.g. I’m coming back home this Friday

       He is leaving at 9 p.m.

        What are you doing next weekend?

• With now/at present/ this week , year etc/ today /at the moment:

           e.g. He is writing a letter now.

               The rugby teams are playing well this season.

• With while etc. when referring to the future.

            e.g. I’ll make a cup of tea while you are washing up.

• We do not use present continuous with the following verbs ( we call them  non-continuous verbs).

• Verbs of possession : possess , have, own , belong  

• Verbs of senses: smell, hear, see , notice, sound

• Verbs of thinking: think, know , imagine , forget , remember , feel, suppose….

• Others: love , adore, matter, seem , appear , contain.

Exercise