2. HOW TO STRUCTURE THE “PRESENT
PROGRESSIVE”?
The present progressive is formed by two main verbs:
Verb BE (in present simple) + gerund form
In the following slides we Will see how to conjuate both verbs in a
present progressive form.
3. Verb BE
The first part of the structure is the verb BE, here we Will conjugate it
in the present simple:
PRONOUN AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE
I AM AM NOT AM I
YOU ARE ARE NOT = AREN’T ARE YOU
HE IS IS NOT = ISN’T IS HE
SHE IS IS NOT = ISN’T IS SHE
IT IS IS NOT ISN’T IS IT
WE ARE ARE NOT = AREN’T ARE WE
THEY ARE ARE NOT = AREN’T ARE THEY
4. GERUND FORM
In the second part of the structure we Will put the main verb in the
gerund form:
----- we only have to add “ing” at the end of the main verb ------
PRONOUN AFFIRMATIVE Gerund form
I AM Talking
YOU ARE Playing
HE IS Dancing
SHE IS Singing
IT IS Swimming
WE ARE Running
THEY ARE walking
5. EXAMPLES
SENTENCES
Affirmative I am walking to work.
Negative She isn’t eating pizza.
Interrogative Are you drinking some coffee?
Affirmative We are dancing salsa on the dance floor.
Negative They aren’t writing a letter.
Affirmative He is watching a movie.
Interrogative Is it biting the bone?
6. USES OF THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
The present progressive is used to:
- describe an action that is happening in the moment.
For example: You are using the Internet.
- Describe an action that is happening nowadays.
For example: Are you still working for the same company?
- Describe an future action or evento which is already planned.
For example: We are going to visit our grandparents this weekend.
7. EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES
Some verbs cannot be conjugated in the present progressive because
they refer to a state not an action:
- Sensation : to feel, to hear, to see, to smell, to taste
- Opinion: to asume, to believe, to consider, to suppose
- Mental state: to forget, to imagina, to know, to understand
- Emotions: to fear, to love, to hate, to envy
- Measurements: to hold, to measure, to weight
- Other verbs: to look, to be, to seem
8. Créditos
Tecnológico nacional de México
Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de
Cuautitlán Izcalli
Coordinación del Área de
Educación a Distancia
