The Present Continuous or present progressive tense

The Present Continuous or present progressive tense

 Structure: S + verb to be (AM/IS/ARE) + -ing form of a verb+ Complement.

 Use: To describe actions that are happening at the moment (NOW).

La estructura consta del uso del verbo mas el gerundio. se usa para describir acciones que suceden en el momento. Se usa para explicar lo que uno esta haciendo ahora.

I) The positive form of the present continuous.

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Common mistakes:

- Students forget to use the verb to be

Example:

a) My father working (INCORRECT) —> My father IS working. (Correct)

- Sometimes students do not use the -ing form.

b) Robert is play with my sister (INCORRECT) —> Robert is playING with my sister. (CORRECT)

Recuerden de no omitir el sujeto. En español “Esta comiendo” esta usando un sujeto tácito. En ingles siempre debemos decir quien hace la acción (salvo en el imperativo) Entonces en “esta comiendo” el sujeto puede ser el, ella, o ello. En ingles seria “He/she /it is eating” dependiendo del contexto.

II) The negative form of the present continuous

The negative form is used by adding “not” after the verb to be in the present tense form. You may use contractions.

Table # 2:The negative form.

Common mistakes:

-Some students place the negative first. REMEMBER TO USE THE S+V+C !!!

a) Not working my father (INCORRECT) —> My father isn’t (is + not) working (CORRECT)

- Students use the don’t/doesn’t to do the negative:

b) She doesn’t playing (INCORRECT) —> She isn’t playing (CORRECT)

III) The question form of the present continuou

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