1. Present Continuous
a) It talks about an activity that is happening now, at or around the time we speak about it.
Example: I am reading a book by Brontë.
b)Talks about an activity that started but hasn’t finished yet.
Example: We are washing the dishes.
Structure: am/is/are +verb+ing
c) Questions are formed with the use of am/is/are +verb+ing
Example: 1. I am reading this book. Are you reading this book? 2. Ella is drinking tea. Is Ella drinking tea? 3. They are working outside. Are they working outside?
2. Present Simple or Continuous 🥊
Present Continuous (I am doing) – things we do now or around now, an action that continues in present and it is not completed. Present Simple (I do) – things we do on a regular basis, actions that are repeated.
3. Past Continuous
a) To express activities in progress in the past that continue for a time in the past. It can also allow us to express an incomplete activity.
Example: I was watching a movie on the plane (but the plane landed before the film finished).
b) To express an activity that was performed in the past but interrupted by another activity.
Example: Ela was brushing her teeth when the phone rang.
Structure: was/were + verb+ing
4. Past Simple or Past Continuous
a) Both tenses are possible with slight variations in meaning. Past Simple focuses on the past action; Past Continuous focuses on the duration of the action.
Example: I didn’t go to the party. I was watching films all night.
5. Present Perfect Continuous
a) We use this tense to talk about an activity that began in the past and it continues up until now. Sometimes there is no difference between Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous. The simple generally expresses more permanent activities, continuous, on the other hand, more temporary.
Example: I have worked here all my life. I’ve been working here all my life.
b) Past activity with a result visible – the action might be completed or it might not be complete
Example: We’ve been painting the house all day.
Structure: have been +verb + ing
6. Past Perfect Continuous
a) Talks about an action that began in the past, continued for a while in the past and was completed in the past at a defined moment.
Example: He had been working very hard before he went on holiday.
Structure: had been +verb + ing
Continuous and state verbs
Some verbs, mostly stative verbs are not used with the continuous tenses because they cannot express the progression that these tenses offer. The stative verbs refer a state rather than an action hence not applied with continuous. Examples of state verbs:
- feeling: hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish
- senses: appear, feel, hear, see, seem, smell, sound, taste
- communication: agree, deny, disagree, mean, promise, surprise
- thinking: believe, know, mean, realize, recognize, remember, understand