Present continuous

We use the present continuous to talk about actions that are happening right now.  

The form is:

Verb To be (Am/are/is) +  Gerund (-ing)

For example: 

I am writing about the present continuous form right now

To form the present continuous, we use the am / is / are form of the verb "to be" + the infinitive of the verb plus an -ing ending. The form is the same for each subject

Please note as shown above that you can contract the subject and verb if you want to:

I am=I'm    He is = He's   She is= She's    It is = It's    We are = We're       They are = They're

Examples:

• I am going to school. / I'm going to school.
• You are doing the dishes. /You're doing the dishes.
• He's seeing his doctor now.
• She's playing with her dog outside.

Negative form of the present continuous

To make the tense negative add "not" before the verb + -ing.

Examples:

• I am not going to bed now.
• You are not doing your homework now.
• The children are not sleeping at this time.
• My boyfriend is not telling me everything.
• They are not reading today's newspaper.

You can also use contractions with the negative form:

Present continuous yes/no questions (positive)

Questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no" answers are formed by inverting the subject and correct form of the verb "be" (am / is / are). (Inverting simply means we change the order of the subject and verb form:)

Affirmative statement: I am coming. (the subject "I" is first, then the verb form "am")

Affirmative question: Am I coming? (to make a question, the verb form "am" comes first then the subject "I").

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