Forming the Present Continuous Tense


The present continuous tense (also called the present progressive tense) is commonly used in English for actions happening right now, or in the future. This page will explain the rules for forming the tense with regular verbs.

Forming the present continuous tense

This tense is formed using two components: the verb BE (in the present tense), and the -ING form of a verb. Here are the rules, using the example verb "sing":
Subject
BE
-ING FORM
I
am
singing
You
are
singing
He
is
singing
She
is
singing
It
is
singing
We
are
singing
They
are
singing


How to make the -ING form

With many verbs, the you can simply add -ING to the end of the verb. However, with some verbs, you need to change the ending a little. Here are the rules:
Verb ending in...
How to make the -ING form
Examples
1 vowel + 1 consonant
Double the consonant, then add -ING
swim - swimming
hit - hitting
get - getting
1 vowel + 1 consonant + E
Remove E, then add -ING
come - coming
lose - losing
live - living
[anything else]
Add -ING
say - saying
go - going
walk - walking