Present
and continous tense
The present tense is a grammatical
tense whose principal function is to
locate a situation or event in present time.[1] The term "present tense" is usually used in
descriptions of specific languages to refer to a particular grammatical form or
set of forms; these may have a variety of uses, not all of which will
necessarily refer to present time. For example, in the English sentence My train leaves tomorrow morning, the verb
form leaves is said to be in the present tense, even though in this
particular context it refers to an event in future time. Similarly, in the historical present,
the present tense is used to narrate events that occurred in the past.
There
are two common types of present tense form in most Indo-European languages: the present indicative (the combination of present tense and indicative mood) and the present subjunctive (the combination of present tense and subjunctive mood).
present indicative of most verbs in modern English has the same form as the infinitive, except for the third-person
singular form, which takes the ending -[e]s. The verb be has the
forms am, is, are. For details see English
verbs. For the present subjunctive, see English subjunctive.
A
number of multi-word constructions exist to express combinations of present
tense with aspect.
The basic form of the present tense is called the simple
present; there are also constructions known
as the present progressive
(or present continuous) (e.g. am writing), the present
perfect (e.g. have written), and the
present perfect progressive (e.g. have been writing).
Use
of the present tense does not always imply present time. In particular, the
present tense is often used to refer to future events (I am seeing James
tomorrow; My train leaves at 3 o'clock this afternoon). This is
particularly the case in condition
clauses and many other adverbial subordinate clauses: If you see him,...;
As soon as they arrive... There is also the historical present,
in which the present tense is used to narrate past events.
For
details of the uses of present tense constructions in English, see Uses of English verb forms. The formula: Positive: S + V1 (s / es) Negative: S + DO /
DOES + NOT + V1 Question: DO / DOES + S + V1
It
is used to express an action in present time, habitual or usual actions or
daily event or universal fact. It is used to express an action in present time
which is usually done on a regular basis. For example a student says, “I go to
school”. It is a daily activity of a student to go to school, so such actions
are expressed by present simple tense. Another example is, “I work in a
factory”. It tells about a usual action of a person that he works in a factory
on regular basis.
The present continuous, also
called the present progressive, is one of the present tenses used in
modern English, the others being the simple
present and the emphatic present. All of
these can be employed in both the indicative and subjunctive moods.
Common
uses
The present continuous is used in
several instances.
To describe something which is
happening at the exact moment of speech:
The boy is crying.
To describe an action that is taking
place now, but not at the exact moment of speech:
He is working in Dubai.
To describe an event which is
planned in the future:
I'm resitting my French exam on Tuesday.
With always, but meaning often:
My mother is always making me go to school!
She is always playing with that doll!
Formation
To form the present continuous, one
uses the appropriate conjugation of to be from the simple present and puts the present participle of the chosen verb after. For example:
He is playing
When using the interrogative with
the present continuous, one does not use the verb to do as with the simple present, rather, one swaps the positions of the conjugation of to
be and the present participle. For example:
Am I annoying you?
which is to ask whether I am annoying you.
