Page 77 - Grammar Glow - 6

Making Negative and Interrogative Sentences in Present Continuous Tense

To form the negative in present continuous tense, we add not between the helping verb and the
-ing form of the main verb.

I am not painting a picture. She is not knitting a cardigan.
l l
To form the interrogative in present continuous tense, the positions of the subject and the helping

verb are interchanged and we begin sentence with is, am or are.
Is she eating food? Are they playing football?
l l
We also use the present continuous tense to talk about the future time when an action or situation
is part of a plan, arrangement or situation.
Anil is going to Shimla tomorrow.
l

Remember
Words describing any sense (hear, see, etc.) or emotion are not used in the continuous tense.

Past Continuous Tense

The past continuous tense tells us something about an action that was continually taking place in
the past.

Uses of Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense is used:

 to show an action that was happening in the past.

l The boy was laughing alone.
 to show an action of a longer time period.

l When I reached her house, she was studying.

 to show an action that was happening at a particular time in the past.
l At 7 a.m., she was going to school.

Formation of Past Continuous Tense
To form the past continuous tense, we use was or were with the -ing form of the main verb.

l Yesterday I was studying with Kunal.

l They were playing cricket last Sunday.
Making Negative and Interrogative Sentences in Past Continuous Tense

To form the negative in past continuous tense, we add not between the helping verb and the main
verb in its -ing form.
l Yesterday the horses were not jumping over the fence.

l Last Monday our teacher was not dictating notes.

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