Questions tagged [present-continuous]
It is used to express a continued or ongoing action at present time. It expresses an action which is in progress at the time of speaking. Using the suffix '-ing'
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What's the difference between "has been living" and "has lived"?
Here I know I have one present perfect and present perfect continuous sentence.
I have lived in Europe for 2 years.
I have been living in Europe for 2 years.
Can you use both of them interchangeably?...
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Can you use "understand" in progressive constructions?
In an answer to a question asked today on EL&U (Antonyms of “lesser” and “greater”), I read the following sentence :
"If I am understanding your question accurately"
To my knowledge, the verb ...
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Can the Past Continuous be used for future events?
I am taking Spanish classes next week.
Despite that it is Present Continuous, it tells us about the future. But if I put it to the past, will it retain its meaning?
That day I started new life. I ...
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Is it allowed to use stative verbs in their progressive form?
"How are you feeling today?"
"Are you seeing him?"
"I'm feeling well."
"The car is standing in the garage."
Are those examples all grammatically false? If they are not, how can I ...
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"is getting" vs "will get"
Are there difference between those sentences?
Alex is getting married next month.
Alex will get married next month.
Seems that the first one is expressed in present continues, and the ...
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"If you explained what you ___ trying to achieve, I would ..."
I've written the next sentence
If you explained what you are trying to achieve, I would recommend a kind of workaround.
and it has raised doubts about the tense I should have used in the ...
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"while they wait" - why not "while they are waiting"?
Here is a sentence that is on my textbook.
Customers can now sit down comfortably while they 'wait' for their number to be called out.
In my opinion, conjunction 'while' is compatible with ...
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Correct use of "is having"
"He is having a cell phone" - is wrong.
Instead we use:
"He has a cell phone".
However, both A and B below are correct:
A) "We are having a class"
B) "We have a class"
Why?
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Is it possible to use the present simple tense after the conjunction 'while'?
I have come across the following pair of sentences on an iTool to the course book which prepares students for Cambridge Key English Test.
There must be a mistake in the second pair of sentences ...
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Significance of inversion: 'Here comes Bob' vs 'Bob is coming here'
Here comes Bob.
Bob is coming here.
Would anyone please explain what is the difference between these?
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present continuous for a temporary habit
So now David is studying in the USA he is not coming back very often
So now David is studying in the USA he won't come back very often
So now David is studying in the USA he does not come very ...
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Difference in sentence meaning between present continuous and simple present constructions
What is the difference between the following sentences?
He is always shooting his mouth off about how good he is. (present continuous)
He always shoots his mouth off about how good he is. (...
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You look good vs You are looking good
I have been told that 'you look good' is the perfect compliment to give. Because 'you are looking good' is not colloquial. How correct is it?
For example, if I have to ask others about myself:
How ...
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Are we having classes tomorrow? vs Do we have classes tomorrow?
Are we having classes tomorrow?
Do we have classes tomorrow?
Are these questions above correct? Does one of them sound a more 'formal' way?
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Can I use "are being " + past participle?
Sentences with form "are being " + past tense
are they correct form of grammar. And what tense do they represent.
like:
You are being missed.
Thanks
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Usage of progressive tense in "I'm making you all personally responsible for his deliverance"
[Farell uncuffs Cage's hands and turns to the squad]
Sgt Farell: Private Cage is a deserter, I'm making you all
personally responsible for his deliverance. He will be combat ready at
06:00 ...
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"We plan" versus "we are planning"
Is there a semantic difference between the following two sentences?
In the future, we are planning to migrate our tool to the Z3 solver.
In the future, we plan to migrate our tool to the Z3 ...
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(In)completeness for perfect / perfect continuous tenses
I'm studying tenses and the Perfect and Perfect Progressive tenses are causing me the most trouble. There is one particular thing I find the most confusing -- the implication of (in)completeness of ...
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Why is "I'm knowing" incorrect?
If "I'm thinking" is correct, why isn't "I'm knowing" correct in formal English?
think+ing = thinking is correct
know+ing = knowing isn't correct
Why?
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I'm running on weekends or I run on the weekend?
Is I'm running on weekends right?
I mean this as a habit in the present but I'm not confident I'll keep doing that for a long time.
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When to use "be going to" / present continuous in future? [duplicate]
In our lesson we have
Be going to
future plans (personal)
prediction based on something we can see or hear
Present continuous
future arrangement
fixed plan
Is this right? Can someone explain this ...
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Preset Simple or Continuous
We can use Present Simple for things that happen time by time:
I play this game (every day)
We can use Present Continuous for things that are happening right now:
I am playing this game (now)
...
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Present tenses with future reference
Consider this short dialogue please.
Alex: Hey, Mark, we are having a party on Saturday, do you want to come?
Mark: Thanks Alex, but I can't. I will be studying both Saturday and Sunday, because ...
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A present continuous usage
Here are the usages of the present continuous.
And here is the sentence:
Dan is sleeping in the living room while we redecorate his bedroom.
It is clear that it is a temporary situation that he is ...
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Present Simple or Present Continuous with "these days"
"These days" express the period around now. Then, I wonder, why is used the Present Simple in the following sentence?:
These days I travel a lot. I’m spending more and more time away from
home. (...
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It becomes cheaper Or it is becoming cheaper [closed]
Should I use present simple or progressive with "all the time"?
"Technology becomes cheaper all the time."
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Whom I am teaching?
Is "whom" in that sentence correct?
She's a mother of one of my students whom I am teaching on Skype
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Is "I >am having< a code which ... " acceptable?
On StackOverflow I often see this:
I’m having a code which (does such and such, followed by a fragment of code)
Is I am having a code grammatically correct? I think it is incorrect, and that it ...
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How many years (have you studied)/(have you been studying) English?
What are the differences between questions 1 and 2? If you were asked to choose only one over the other to use in an application form which one would you use?
In case you say it depends on the ...
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(How many years) have you been married?/studying English?
Grammar books set rules for ELL when they want to ask questions to use present perfect form for counting, and present perfect progressive for periods of time.
Now what if you want to ask about a ...
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Which tense should I use with "want"?
If I really want food right now, should I use the present continuous (I am wanting food) or the simple present (I want food)?
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What is the proper use of the present progressive form, especially of "to have"?
When I read @ctype.h's question 'Is "I am having a code" grammatically correct?', I thought that @Mark Beadles brought up a good point:
This is two questions, though you may not realize it. ...
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Which one must I use "see/am seeing" and what is your reason?
Right now I am looking at the board. I see/am seeing some words on the board.
Would you possibly readily or simply tell me which one? And why?
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Omitting "to be" in present continuous
Sometimes I come across sentences or phrases which should (in my opinion) contain the verb "to be" (present continuous tense) but they actually don't.
Last time I saw that on CNN in the running line, ...
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Should I use the present progressive tense or the present tense?
A lot of Chinese people are speaking Chinglish when they try to speak
English.
or
A lot of Chinese people speak Chinglish when they try to speak
English.
When I was in high school years ago, ...
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Present Simple vs Present Continuous in "It happens because ice ____ (FLOAT) into the Atlantic Ocean."
I've come across a grammar task for English Exam preparation.
There goes a text:
A survey by the Japan Agency for Science and Technology shows that Arctic ice is melting (Present Continuous is used ...
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I wait for Vs I'm waiting for
A friend of mine, who's a ESL intermediate student, wrote in a letter "I wait for your answer" and I found it very weird. I know it's wrong but I can't explain what is exactly wrong. I would have said ...
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The present progressive to talk about the future
Suppose we ask the following question:
Did you know I'm getting a new job?
Does it suggest that I've already found the job but probably not started yet. I mean can this meaning be possible in some ...
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All they do is 'get/getting' groceries
This is going to be silly but I know some people who don't really leave the house for anything but groceries. It's impossible to hang out with them because they just sit around at home and the only ...
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The simple present for future? [duplicate]
I did search on the internet. but I couldn't still understand well how to use simple present for future. every grammar book says "simple present is used for events in the future which are 'timetabled, ...
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"have been here" vs. "have been being here"
Which one is correct? I know the present perfect continuous tense is for what. My question is here that we should use that tense when we want to say "I was here (a city) for ten years and now I am ...
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What's the grammar behind "[Noun/pronoun] + [be] + [gerund]"
I'm wondering what's the grammar behind phrases like:
We be eating
She be sleeping
etc
What are the grammar backgrounds for phrases in such form? Can there be any other use cases of such grammar ...
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Present Simple vs Present Progressive
What is the difference in meaning between the following two sentences?
(1) I am completely honest with you right now.
(2) I am being completely honest with you right now.
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Using "just" with 'present continuous tense'
Can I use just with present continuous as in:
Mother: We are running late for dinner, where are you right now?
Son: I am just getting home.
Friend A: Did you finish the last answer?
Friend ...
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"when you do something" or "when you are doing something"?
Tell me please if there is any difference in meaning between the following sentences.
You are bending too much when you are squatting.
You bend too much when you squat.
The context is a man finishes ...
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"Could be living" vs. "could live"
Novak on TV: Alex, I don't know if you can hear me. But tonight, you uncovered a nest of vipers inside the Detroit Police Department. And in so doing, you shed light on an invaluable truth. Even the ...
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Is it natural to use the verb "want" in the continuous form to express a strong desire for something or to do something?
I am aware that the verb want is a stative verb and many grammar books and teachers say it is correct to use it in the continuous form. But as is the case with lot of stative cases, there some ...
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{I've been reading} vs {I'm reading} (present progressive vs p. perfect progressive)
I think both
I've been reading that book (lately)
and
I'm reading that book (this week)
are correct. But I struggle to find a difference in meaning. Is there one? Should I avoid one tense or ...
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What is the difference between 'The carpet lies on the floor.' and 'The carpet is lying on the floor.'?
There are two sentences,
The carpet lies on the floor.
The carpet is lying on the floor.
What is the difference between the two sentences?
And under what situation should we use 'present ...
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"Ask Jim if he's staying tonight" or "Ask Jim if he stays tonight"
I know we can use present simple when talking about the future, especially after subordinate clauses.
On the other hand, I also know that we can use present progressive to talk about future events, ...
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