Unit 12 : The Present Continuous Tense

1)    The Present Continuous Tense consists of te present tense form o the verb ‘to be’ + verb + ‘ing’ (am/is/are + verb+ ‘ing’).

Examples :

Subject	Present tense of ‘to be’	Continuous form
I	am	running
You	are	waiting
She/ He/It	is	crawling
We/You/They	are	studying

2)    The Present Continuous Tense is used :

a)    To show that an action is still going on at time of speaking.

Examples :

Someone is knocking at the door. Can you see who it is?

The bus is leaving! Hurry! We can still catch it.

b)    To describe a temporary activity.

Examples :

The river is overflowing as the rain continues to pour heavily.

His condition is improving day by day.

c)    For events in the future.

Examples :

We are flying to Italy tomorrow.

I am walking to school from next week.

3)    The Present Continuous Tense is formed in the following ways.

a)    Adding ‘-ing’ to a verb without changing the spelling of the base verb.

Examples :

Beat-beating             catch-catching                     hurry-hurrying

b)    If the verb ends with ‘-e’, replace the ‘-e’ with ‘-ing’.

Examples :

Come-coming            ride-riding                  use-using

c)    If the verb ends with a single vowel + a single consonant, double the final consonant and add ‘-ing’.

Examples :

Run-running                        get-getting                 sit-sitting

Examples :

1)    We __________ for Hong Kong tomorrow.

a)    are leaving

b)    are leave

c)    are left

d)    leaves

2)    He __________ the horse to town.

a)    are ride

b)    is riding

c)    is rides

d)    rode

3)    I __________ for a new pair of shoes. What are you shopping for ?

a)    shop

b)    shopped

c)    is shopping

d)    am shopping

4)    The girls __________ now. Could you come back later, please?

a)    sleep

b)    sleeps

c)    is sleeping

d)    are sleeping

5)    It _________ heavily outside so we cannot go out now.

a)    rained

b)    is raining

c)    are raining

d)    am raining

6)    I __________ a book from the library tomorrow.

a)    borrows

b)    borrowed

c)    is borrowing

d)    am borrowing

7)    The train _________ the railway station now.

a)    left

b)    leaves

c)    leaving

d)    is leaving

8)    My mother _________ a cake in the kitchen. Please hold on while I call her.

a)    bake

b)    baked

c)    baking

d)    is baking

9)    The lions ___________ a helpless deer.

a)    attack

b)    attacking

c)    is attacking

d)    are attacking

10)  They __________ happily now but only s few minutes ago they were arguing.

a)    laughs

b)    laughed

c)    is laughing

d)    are laughing