Page 73 - English Grammar - 7

� describe a plan or arrangement in the near future often accompanied by time expressions
like tonight, tomorrow, this week, etc.

I am flying to the United States tomorrow.
O
� express actions that are repeated regularly, often accompanied by time expressions like
always, forever, etc. For example:
I am travelling by train right now.
O
Sunil is always hurrying to the school.
O
Formation of present participle
Most verbs simply add -ing.

For example: play – playing, call – calling, bark – barking

For verbs that end in -e, the -e is replaced by -ing.
For example: glide – gliding, abide – abiding, ride – riding

For verbs that end in -ie, the -ie is replaced by -ying.
For example: tie – tying, die – dying

Verbs that have the last syllable in the ‘consonant-vowel-consonant’ pattern, the last
letter is doubled before adding -ing.

For example: tag – tagging, begin – beginning, rag – ragging

Formation of Sentences in Present Continuous Tense

The negative in present continuous is formed by adding not between the helping verb and
the -ing form of the main verb. For example:

I am not painting a picture.
O
The interrogative (yes/no question) in present continuous is formed by using is/am/are +
subject + present participle form of the main verb. For example:

Is she distributing the coupons?
O
The wh-question in present continuous is formed with a wh-word + am/is/are + subject +
present participle form of the main verb. For example:

What is he carrying in that box?
O

Practice Time 1 Continuous Tenses

Fill in the blanks with the present continuous form of the verbs given in brackets.
1. They ________________________ with that company now. (work)

2. My uncle and aunt ________________________ today. (come)
3. He will say he ________________________ out of town for a month. (go)
4. I ________________________ about that matter. (think)

5. It ________________________ so we should postpone our plan. (rain)
6. They ________________________ to Paris next week. (travel)
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