Present Continuous: structure

Present Continuous

Examples of structure of the present

continuous in affirmative, negative and

interrogative sentences.

Infografía

Affirmative Sentences

Subject + Auxiliary verb (to be) + Verb + ing. (-s/-es)

I am writing.
We are drawing.

	SUBJECT	AUXILIARY	VERB
First-person singular	I	am	doing
Second-person singular	You	are	doing
Third-person singular	He	is	doing
Third-person singular	She	is	doing
Third-person singular	It	is	doing
First-person plural	We	are	doing
Second-person plural	You	are	doing
Third-person plural	They	are	doing

Negative Sentences

Subject + Auxiliary verb (to be) + Negative auxiliary verb (not) + Verb + ing.

I am not writing.
We are not drawing.

	SUBJECT	AUXILIARY	NEGATIVE AUXILIARY	VERB	CONTRACTED FORM
First-person singular	I	am	not	doing	I’m not doing.
Second-person singular.	You	are	not	doing	You aren’t doing. You’re not doing.
Third-person singular	He	is	not	doing	He’s not doing.
Third-person singular	She	is	not	doing	She’s not doing.
Third-person singular	It	is	not	doing	It’s not doing.
First-person plural	We	are	not	doing	We aren’t doing.¡. We’re not doing.
Second-person plural	You	are	not	doing	You aren’t doing. You’re not doing.
Third-person plural	They	are	not	doing	They aren’t doing. They’re not doing.

Interrogative Sentences

Yes / No questions

Auxiliary verb (to be) + Subject + Verb + ing.

Are you writing?
Is he drawing?

	AUXILIARY	SUBJECT	VERB + ING.
First-person singular	Am	I	writing?
Second-person singular	Are	you	writing?
Third-person singular	Is	he	writing?
Third-person singular	Is	she	writing?
Third-person singular	Is	it	writing?
First-person plural	Are	we	writing?
Second-person plural	Are	you	writing?
Third-person plural	Are	they	writing?

We need to invert the subject in questions that can be answered with yes or no, which means that an affirmative question would be am I reading? And an affirmative sentence is I am reading.

Wh questions

When the question is a Wh question, we always put it at the beginning. Look at these examples:

Why are you writing?
What is she drawing?
When are you coming?
Where are we stopping?
Who is he travelling with?
How are they doing?

	WH QUESTION	AUXILIARY	SUBJECT	VERB
First-person singular	Why	am	I	doing?
Second-person singular	What	are	you	writing?
Third-person singular	When	is	he	coming?
Third-person singular	Where	is	she	going?
Third-person singular	Why	is	it	working?
First-person plural	How	are	we	travelling?
Second-person plural	Who	are	you	drawing?
Third-person plural	What	are	they	cooking?

You can use contractions in Wh questions too!

Why is = Why’s

What is = What’s

When is = When’s

Where is = Where’s

Who is = Who’s

How is = How’s

Spelling modifications

All verbs finish in -ing

To do = Doing

To say = Saying

One syllable verbs

In one syllable verbs which end in consonant + vowel + consonant we double the ending consonant before adding the -ing ending. Examples:

Run = Running

Get = Getting

Stop = Stopping

Two (or more) syllable verbs

In two (or more) syllable verbs which end in consonant + vowel + consonant we double the ending consonant if the last syllable is stressed and add -ing. If not, we only add -ing. Examples:

The last syllable is stressed:

Control (con-TROL) = Controlling

Commit (com-MIT) = Committing

The last syllable is not stressed

Happen (HAPP-en) = Happening

Whisper (WHIS-per) = Whispering

Verbs ending in W, X and Y

These verbs end in consonant + vowel + consonant but we do not double the consonant.

Throw = Throwing

Study = Studying

Verbs ending in -ie

If a verb ends in -ie, we change it to -y before we add -ing.