The present continuous is made from the present tense of the verb be and the –ing form of a verb:

I am working

You are playing

He is talking

She is living

It is eating

We are staying

They are sleeping

We use the present continuous to talk about: ·

activities at the moment of speaking:

I'm just leaving work. I'll be home in an hour.

Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.

· future plans or arrangements:

Mary is going to a new school next term.

What are you doing next week?

Present continuous questions

We make questions by putting am, is or are in front of the subject:

Are you listening?

Are they coming to your party?

When is she going home?

What am I doing here?

Present continuous negatives

We make negatives by putting not (or n't) after am, is or are:

I'm not doing that.

You aren't listening. (or You're not listening.)

They aren't coming to the party. (or They're not coming to the party.)

She isn't going home until Monday. (or She's not going home until Monday.)

Stative verbs

We do not normally use the continuous with stative verbs. Stative verbs include:

· verbs of thinking and feeling:

believe, dislike, know, like, love, hate, prefer, realise, recognise, remember, suppose, think (= believe), understand, want, wish,

verbs of the senses:

appear, feel, look, seem, smell, sound, taste,

others:

agree, be, belong, disagree, need, owe, own, possess,

We normally use the simple instead:

I understand you. (NOT I am understanding you.)

This cake tastes wonderful. (NOT This cake is tasting wonderful.)