Present Progressive Tense | Examples & Use
The present progressive (also referred to as the present continuous) is a verb tense that is used when describing a temporary action that is currently happening. It can also be used when describing future plans (e.g., “She is starting a new job tomorrow”).
The present progressive uses a conjugated form of the auxiliary verb “be” along with the present participle (“-ing” form) of the main verb (e.g., “He is reading”).
Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
---|---|---|
I am going | I am not going | Am I going? |
You are going | You aren’t going | Are you going? |
He/she/it is going | He/she/it isn’t going | Is he/she/it going? |
We are going | We aren’t going | Are we going? |
You are going | You aren’t going | Are you going? |
They are going | They aren’t going | Are they going? |
Table of contents
- How to use the present progressive
- When not to use the present progressive
- Present progressive vs simple present
- Present progressive vs present perfect progressive
- How to form negatives
- How to form questions
- How to form the passive voice
- Present progressive exercises
- Frequently asked questions about present progressive
How to use the present progressive
The form the verb “be” takes in the present progressive is determined by the subject. The first person (“I”) uses “am,” the third person singular (“he,” “she,” “it”) uses “is,” and all other persons (“we,” “you,” “they”) use “are.”
The subject and verb are often combined in a contraction (e.g., “he’s,” “I’m,” “we’re”), and the main verb is always in the present participle (“-ing”) form.
The present progressive is used to describe an ongoing (continuous) action or event. It is most frequently used when discussing current actions and future intentions or plans.
The present progressive is also used in some other contexts:
- Describing a change process that happens over time
- Emphasizing (when used with the adverb “always”) that something happens repeatedly
- Describing a new development or trend that differs from the past
When not to use the present progressive
The present progressive tense can only be used with dynamic verbs (also called action verbs), which describe an action or process.
Stative verbs—verbs that describe a state of being such as belief, emotion, perception, or possession—are not commonly used in the present progressive tense.
Some verbs can be stative or dynamic depending on their specific context. For example, “think” can be used to describe a thought process (dynamic) or a fixed belief or opinion (stative).
Present progressive vs simple present
To decide whether to use the present progressive (e.g., “is waiting”) or the simple present (e.g., “waits”), consider the following guidelines:
- When describing an action or event currently in progress, use the present progressive.
- When describing a general truth, habit, or fixed state, use the simple present.
The two tenses can both be used to talk about events that will happen in the near future. There are some differences in their use, though:
- The present progressive is used when describing an action that is about to be performed or a future plan that is not necessarily specific.
- The simple present is used when describing an official, clearly defined future plan or a recurring event.
Present progressive vs present perfect progressive
The present perfect progressive tense (e.g., “has been talking”) is sometimes confused with the present progressive, but these tenses are not interchangeable.
Both tenses are used to describe an ongoing action. However, there are two ways the present perfect progressive (also called the present perfect continuous) differs from the present progressive:
- It is used when the current action started in the past and is often used with an adverbial phrase that makes clear when the action began (e.g., “since Tuesday” or “for the past three months”).
- It can refer to a very recently completed action.
How to form negatives
Negative statements can be formed in the present progressive by adding the adverb not in between the two verbs. Often, the first verb and adverb are combined into a contraction (“aren’t” or “isn’t). This does not happen in the first person in standard English, though, since “amn’t” is not a word.
How to form questions
In the present progressive, yes–no questions can be formed by placing the subject between the auxiliary verb (“is,” “are,” or “am”) and the present participle (“-ing” verb).
Other types of questions are formed with wh-words (interrogative pronouns such as “what” and interrogative adverbs such as “when”). These questions follow the same word order as yes–no questions but with the addition of a wh-word at the beginning of the sentence.
How to form the passive voice
The passive voice is used to indicate that the subject is being acted upon rather than performing an action.
In the present progressive, the passive voice is formed with the following components: the subject, a form of the verb “be” (“am,” “are,” or “is”), the present participle “being,” and the past participle of the main verb, which describes the action.
Present progressive exercises
Test your understanding of the present progressive tense by answering these practice quiz questions.
Frequently asked questions about present progressive
- What is the “-ing” form of a verb?
-
The verb form that ends in “-ing” is known as the present participle. Present participles are used in progressive verb tenses (e.g., “I am studying,” “she had been eating”) and as adjectives (e.g., “a tiring hike”).
The “-ing” form of a verb is also used in gerunds, but gerunds operate as nouns (e.g., “Skiing is dangerous”).
- When do we use the present progressive?
-
The present progressive tense (also known as the present continuous) is used to describe an action that is currently happening (e.g., “He is working now”) or plans or intentions (e.g., “I am starting a new job next week”).
The present progressive differs from the simple present, which is used to describe a general truth (e.g., “Birds fly south for winter”), a habit (e.g., “Monica teaches on Thursdays”), or a fixed state (e.g., “He looks like his dad”).