You use am, is or are with a verb ending in -ing to talk about an activity in progress. The activity can be happening right now or during a period around now. You can also use this form for arrangements and other meanings explained below.
The present continuous is also called the present progressive. It has two parts: a present form of be and an -ing form. The -ing form comes from a verb: read becomes reading. Keep both parts in an ordinary complete sentence.
The subject is the person or thing the sentence is about. Choose be to match it. The -ing form stays the same with every subject.
| Subject | Full form | Short form |
|---|---|---|
| I | I am painting. | I'm painting. |
| you / we / they | They are painting. | They're painting. |
| he / she / it | She is painting. | She's painting. |
A name or a noun can be the subject too: Marta is painting, The workers are painting. One worker takes is; several take are. You do not add a third-person -s to the -ing form: She is painting, not She is paintings.
Short forms use an apostrophe for missing letters. I'm means I am; she's means she is here; we're means we are. See am, is and are: the verb be in the present for the forms of be. The short form does not change the activity's meaning.
Put not after be, before the -ing form. Do not add don't or doesn't to this pattern.
| Full negative | Short forms |
|---|---|
| I am not driving. | I'm not driving. |
| She is not driving. | She isn't driving. / She's not driving. |
| They are not driving. | They aren't driving. / They're not driving. |
Both he isn't waiting and he's not waiting are possible. Do not combine them into he'sn't. Learn I'm not as the core negative for I. Oxford also records amn't in informal Scottish and Irish English; that is a regional recognition note, not the core form used in this reference.
Move be before the subject. Leave the -ing form after the subject. A yes/no question asks whether something is true.
Do not use do or does with this continuous form. Are they waiting? already has the helper are. The question is not Do they waiting? or Do they are waiting?.
This pattern has a separate subject after be. When who is itself the subject, use Who is knocking? See Subject and object questions for that difference. Questions with not include Isn't she coming? and Why aren't they listening?; Negative questions: isn't it, why don't you, didn't you explains their meanings.
Use the matching form of be. You do not need to repeat the -ing verb. Change the subject when a different person answers.
| Question | Positive short answer | Negative short answer |
|---|---|---|
| Are you travelling alone? | Yes, I am. | No, I'm not. |
| Is the oven heating up? | Yes, it is. | No, it isn't. |
| Are the boys practising? | Yes, they are. | No, they aren't. |
A complete positive short answer ending there needs the full verb: Yes, she is, not Yes, she's. A longer answer can use a contraction: Yes, she's practising upstairs. Negative short answers can end in isn't or aren't. See Short answers, so do I, neither do I, and I think so for the wider system.
The base form is the verb without endings: walk, make, sit. Start with that form, not the past form or the form with -s. These spelling rules help you build the -ing form; check a learner's dictionary for an unfamiliar word or an exception.
| Pattern | What to do | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Most verbs | Add -ing. | cook, cooking; read, reading |
| Final silent -e | Usually drop e, then add -ing. | move, moving; ride, riding |
| Final -ee, -ye, -oe | Keep the e. | agree, agreeing; dye, dyeing |
| Final -ie | Change ie to y, then add -ing. | tie, tying; die, dying |
| Final -y | Keep y and add -ing. | carry, carrying; enjoy, enjoying |
Keep the y in studying. This -ing spelling rule is different from studies in the present simple.
In a one-syllable verb ending in one vowel letter and one consonant letter, you normally double the final consonant: run, running; shop, shopping; cut, cutting. A syllable is a spoken part of a word: run has one; visit has two.
Do not double final w, x or y: snowing, fixing, playing. Do not double after two written vowels, as in waiting, or when two consonant letters already end the base form, as in helping.
For longer verbs, the final syllable's stress, the stronger spoken part, matters. Compare begin, beginning, with stress at the end, and open, opening, with stress at the start. Forget becomes forgetting; visit becomes visiting. Do not use a rule that doubles every final consonant in every long verb.
British English doubles the final l in forms such as travelling and labelling even without final stress. American English uses traveling and labeling. Both varieties use controlling, where the last syllable is stressed. These are spelling differences, not different tenses.
Some words need individual care. Dyeing, changing a colour, differs from dying, from die. Singeing, burning a surface lightly, keeps the e and differs from singing. You do not need these less basic verbs to start using the tense, but they show why a dictionary can matter.
Use the present continuous to show an activity in progress at the moment you speak. In progress means that you see it as happening, not as a completed event.
Words such as now and at the moment can make the time clear. They are not required when the situation already makes it clear: Look, the bus is coming. They do not force a continuous form with every verb: Now I understand has a different verb meaning.
The activity need not be happening at the exact second you speak. You can see it as part of a current period. I'm reading a long biography can mean that you are partway through it this week, even while you are talking rather than reading.
Temporary means that you see the situation as limited rather than as your normal settled situation. You do not need to know the exact day it will end.
A repeated action can also be temporary. I'm taking the early train this week describes several journeys during a limited period. It does not mean that one train journey continues all week.
Compare I walk to the office, a normal routine, with I'm walking to the office this week, a current limited pattern. Both describe real activity. The difference is how the speaker presents it, not a rule that anything which might change must be continuous. See Present continuous or present simple?.
You can use the continuous for an activity already in progress before and after a particular point in a recurring situation. At seven, we're usually eating dinner puts that time inside the activity. The simple We eat dinner at seven presents the dinner time as a routine. British Council teaches this extension in its intermediate section; that publisher label is not an exact EGP band.
Use the present continuous for a change taking place over time. The change can be slow, and you need not be watching it at this moment.
The continuous can also contrast a new current situation with an earlier one: We're using the new entrance these days. Words such as these days help to show the period. They do not by themselves decide which tense every possible sentence needs.
Use the present continuous for a future arrangement that has already been made. Give a future time or let the context supply it, so the reader does not mistake the activity for one happening now.
It is not restricted to the immediate future. An arrangement can be further away if the context makes it clear. Nor is this the form for every prediction: a prediction about tomorrow's weather does not automatically become an arrangement.
British Council introduces plans in its beginner section. See Present continuous and present simple for the future and Be going to: forms, plans and predictions for a fuller comparison.
The continuous with always can present repeated activity as striking, surprising or unwanted. It does not necessarily describe one uninterrupted action. Put always between be and the -ing form.
Compare He always checks the doors, a description of a habit, with He's always checking the doors, a comment on repeated behaviour. The speaker's attitude and context matter. Do not teach that the continuous with always must express annoyance.
Other words include constantly, continually and forever: The printer is constantly stopping halfway through a page. Wider vocabulary does not change the basic be + -ing form.
A state verb can express a feeling, belief, possession or other state rather than an activity in progress. With these meanings, verbs such as know, believe, understand, want, need and belong normally use a simple form: I know the route, not I am knowing the route in the ordinary meaning.
Do not turn that into a ban on a word in every meaning. Compare I think you're right, meaning that this is my opinion, with I'm thinking about the offer, an activity of considering it. She has a bicycle expresses possession; She's having a shower describes an activity. State verbs and action verbs treats these meaning changes in detail.
Be itself can describe behaviour in the continuous: You're being very patient comments on behaviour now. You're patient describes the person more generally. It does not follow that every statement with be needs being: The bag is heavy is an ordinary description.
A rhetorical question is used to make a point rather than simply to get information. Are we ignoring the real problem? can ask the reader to consider a criticism. The same grammatical question could be a genuine request for information in another context; its function comes from the situation.
I'm asking for a little more time can present a request in this way. This is a particular advanced use, not permission to put every state verb into the continuous. The basic I know pattern still stands for knowing a fact.
British Council's advanced section includes present forms in stories about past events and in summaries of books, films or plays. In a present-tense narrative, I'm crossing the square when someone calls my name presents the crossing as an activity in progress in the story. It need not be happening at the real time of speaking.
A summary can similarly say The detective is watching the house when a car arrives. The continuous gives the ongoing background; the simple form can present the next event. These are narrative choices, not evidence that the present continuous has become the ordinary past tense. No exact EGP level is assigned here to this publisher's advanced story category.
✗The cyclists riding through the park.
✓The cyclists are riding through the park.
In this ordinary complete statement, the -ing verb needs are.
✗She is paint the fence.
✓She is painting the fence.
After is in this continuous pattern, use the -ing form.
✗Does he waiting outside?
✓Is he waiting outside?
Move is before the subject; do not use does with waiting here.
✗They aren't comeing today.
✓They aren't coming today.
Drop the final silent e in come before adding -ing.
✗Are you listening? Yes, I'm.
✓Are you listening? Yes, I am.
A positive short answer ending here needs full am. Yes, I'm listening is a valid longer answer.
These corrections apply to the stated patterns. Short notes can omit words, and state verbs can change meaning. Do not use a fragment rule or a word list to reject a different complete pattern without checking what it means.
Compare Present continuous or present simple? and The present simple for normal routines, general facts and activity in progress. Use am, is and are: the verb be in the present for am/is/are, State verbs and action verbs for state meanings and exceptions, and Present continuous and present simple for the future for future arrangements. The past continuous and The present perfect continuous, and continuous or simple? show how the continuous idea combines with other time patterns.
Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.