Present Continuous Tense

Tenses are a vital component of English language and grammar or the whole language is standing on the pillars of tenses.

In today’s article, I will be discussing about what tense is, what are its types and what is present continuous tense in particular.

Tense

Tense is described as the quality of a verb which occurs in a sentence and which describes the time frame of the action taking place. In simpler terms, the occurrence of action of a sentence is depicted by the tense of that sentence.

Example:

He likes bananas.

In the above example, the verb likes indicates that the action is taking place right now and is not an event of the past or future, thus we know that the tense of this sentence is present.

The basic categorization of tense is that it can exist in three forms which are past, present and future. This means that a verb also comes in three forms i.e. past, present and future.

Present Tense

A verb is said to be in present tense when the action it is describing is taking place right now or in the present.

Example:

She sings well.

This example makes use of first form of verb i.e. sings and thus it indicates that the action is of present.

But is doesn’t end there. The present tense is further divided into different forms and types which include present indefinite tense, present continuous tense, present perfect tense and present perfect continuous tense.

Today I will talk about present continuous tense.

Present Continuous Tense

Present continuous indicates that the action described in a sentence is happening now or continuously and may or may not continue to happen in the future.

Example:

She is watching television.

The example indicates that the action of watching is happening in right now.

A verb exists in present continuous tense when it is in first form with an –ing at its end.

Example:

The boy is standing at the bus stop.

The above example is also that of present continuous tense. Notice that the first form of verb stand is used with the addition of –ing at its end representing continuity.