Use of the present continuous tense

1The present continuous (progressive) tense generally refers to actions which are in progress at the moment.

These can be temporary:

• The car isn't starting again.

• I'm staying in a hotel until I find a flat.

• Are you enjoying your stay here?

They can be actually in progress:

• The dog is sleeping on our bed!

• Are you enjoying the party?

• Why are you jumping up and down?

• Why are you sitting at my desk?

• What's Jack doing? - He's lying under his car.

Or they can be generally in progress but not actually happening at the moment:

• I'm learning to drive.

• The shop is so inefficient that many customers are taking their business elsewhere.

• The police are talking to a number of people about the robbery.

• My mother is learning how to arrange flowers artistically.

Time expressions such as at the moment, at present, currently, just, and still are used to emphasise that the action or event is happening now:

• ‘Have you done the shopping?’ ‘I'm just going.’

Time expressions such as today / this week / this evening / term etc are used when we talk about things happening in a period around now:

• You are looking tired. Are you working hard this week?

We use the present continuous when we talk about changes, developments, and trends:

• Rainforests are disappearing at terrifying rates.

• The growing number of visitors is damaging the footpaths.

• I'm beginning to realise how difficult it is to be a teacher.

• Things are getting worse!

• More and more people are giving up smoking.

• The population of China is rising very fast.

States State verbs are not used in the present continuous. We use the present simple with verbs describing states. State verbs describe a continuing state, so do not usually have a continuous form. Typical examples are:

• I don't like gangster films.

• The milk smells strange.

• The coat fits you all right.

• Polar caps consist of millions of tons of ice.

Other common state verbs: be, agree, appreciate, assume, believe, belong to, contain, concern, consist, cost, depend, disagree, doubt, feel, fit, hate, hear, have, hold (= contain), hope, keep (= continue), know, like, loathe, look, love, matter, mean, measure, owe, own, notice, observe, perceive, prefer, realise, recall, recollect, regret, resemble, understand, seem, see smell, sound (= seem/appear), suppose, suspect, taste, think, want, weigh, wish.

Some verbs have a stative meaning and a different active meaning. Typical examples are:

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