Present Continuous Tense: Definition & Useful Examples in English

Present continuous tense in English with present continuous examples! Learn the definition and how to form the present continuous tense with useful examples and ESL printable infographics.

Contents

Present Continuous Tense

Present Continuous Definition

The present continuous is a verb tense in which the action is on-going/still going on and hence continuous. The present continuous tense is used to talk about actions that are happening at this current moment.

Forming Present Continuous Tense

Positive Statements | Present Continuous

SUBJECT	AM / ARE / IS	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	am	watching	television.
You	are	watching	television.
He	is	watching	television.
Tom	is	watching	television
The boy	is	watching	television.
She	is	watching	television.
Anna	is	watching	television.
The girl	is	watching	television.
We	are	watching	television.
You	are	watching	television.
They	are	watching	television.
The children	are	watching	television.

Notice that we use:

‘am’ with ‘I’,
‘is’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’
‘are’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Negative Statements | Present Continuous

SUBJECT	AM NOT / ARE NOT / IS NOT	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	am not	playing	chess.
You	are not	playing	chess.
He	is not	playing	chess.
Tom	is not	playing	chess.
The boy	is not	playing	chess.
She	is not	playing	chess.
Anna	is not	playing	chess.
The girl	is not	playing	chess.
We	are not	playing	chess.
You	are not	playing	chess.
They	are not	playing	chess.
The men	are not	playing	chess.

Notice that we use:

‘am not’ with ‘I’,
‘is not’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’
‘are not’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Interrogative Statements/Questions | Present Continuous

AM / ARE / IS	SUBJECT	VERB	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Am	I	reading	a book?
Are	you	reading	a book?
Is	he	reading	a book?
Is	Tom	reading	a book?
Is	the boy	reading	a book?
Is	she	reading	a book?
Is	Anna	reading	a book?
Is	the girl	reading	a book?
Are	we	reading	a book?
Are	you	reading	a book?
Are	they	reading	a book?
Are	the men	reading	a book?