Present Continuous: am / is / are + -ing
The present continuous describes an action in progress right now or around now, and you build it with the verb 'to be' (am/is/are) plus the -ing form: "I'm reading a book" or "She's making dinner." Watch your spelling: drop a silent -e before -ing (make -> making) and double a final consonant after a short vowel (run -> "They are running"). The two mistakes to avoid are dropping the verb 'to be' (say "I'm working," not "I working") and using the present continuous with stative verbs like know and want, which stay in the present simple ("I know," not "I am knowing"). Master this tense and you can talk about exactly what is happening at this moment, something the present simple cannot do.
Examples
- I'm reading a book. the speaker is reading right now
- She's making dinner. she is preparing dinner now
- They are running. the people are running now
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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Drop one tiny word and I am working turns into I working — and suddenly you sound broken. Here's the word, and the tense it unlocks.
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The present simple says what you usually do. But what about right now, this very second? For that, English has a separate tense: the present continuous.
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The formula is simple. Take the verb to be — am, is, or are — and add the main verb with -ing on the end. Two pieces, every time.
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The to be part changes with the subject. I am, he, she, it is, and you, we, they are. Lock this in — it's the engine of the whole tense.
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Let's see it in action. Right now, at this moment, I'm reading. I'm reading a book.
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With she, the to be becomes is. And watch the spelling — make loses its silent e before -ing. She's making dinner.
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With they, we use are. And here a short vowel means we double the final consonant: run becomes running. They are running.
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So those are the two spelling rules to remember. Drop a silent -e before -ing. And after a single short vowel, double the final consonant. Everything else just adds -ing.
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It also works for actions happening around now, even if not this exact second. I'm reading a great book this week.
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Now the number-one mistake. Learners drop the to be and just say I working. You must keep am, is, or are — it's not optional.
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Second trap: some verbs almost never take -ing. Verbs about states — knowing, wanting, liking — stay in the present simple. You say I know, not I am knowing.
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Why? Because the continuous is for actions in progress. A state like knowing isn't an action you're doing — it just is. So it stays simple.
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To make it negative, just add not after the to be. She isn't sleeping.
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And for a question, swap the order — put the to be in front. Are you listening?
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So remember three things: to be plus -ing, never drop the to be, and keep state verbs in the simple. That's the present continuous.