Hello, everyone, and welcome back to my channel Sparkle English, where I teach you how to improve
your level of English. In today's lesson, I'm going to teach you about the present continuous
tense, which is very important in English. We use the present continuous when we're talking about
actions that are happening right now. Before we start our lesson, make sure to subscribe
to my channel for more videos just like this one. So when do we use the present continuous?
We use the present continuous to talk about things happening right now. For example,
I'm walking in the park. She's eating dinner. He's reading a book.
In all of these examples, the actions are happening right now in this moment.
We also use the present continuous to talk about temporary activities.
For example, I'm staying at a friend's house. I'm staying is in the present continuous
because I'm only staying at my friend's house for a few days or a few weeks. It's not permanent,
so we can use the present continuous. She's dating a man from Ireland. He's living with
his mother until he can move into his new house. All of these are temporary situations.
We also use the present continuous to talk about future plans or arrangements. For example, we are
traveling to the north of Spain on Saturday. Peter is seeing the new James Bond film tomorrow. In
both of these examples, they are plans for the future, so we can use the present continuous.
So how do we form the present continuous? We form the present continuous with the present tense
of the verb to be plus the -ing form of a verb. If you don't know how to use the verb to be,
click on the link in the description below to see my video on the verb to be. So for example,
I am working or the contraction, I'm working. You are working or you're working. He, she, or it is
or he's, she's, it's working. And for the plural forms, you, we, and they are or you're,
we're, they're working. The verb plus -ing is the same for all the singular and plural pronouns.
So for example, he's eating an apple. We have the verb to be and we add -ing after the main verb.
I'm talking on the phone. They're drinking coffee. She's making breakfast.
All of these are actions that are happening right now. A very common question in English is what are
you doing? I'm talking on the phone. I'm playing a video game. We use the present continuous mainly
to talk about things that are happening right now in this moment. One of the most difficult
things about using the present continuous is knowing how to spell the verb plus -ing.
So I'm going to teach you the three different spelling rules. For most verbs, it's very simple.
You just add -ing. Work becomes working. Talk, talking, drink, drinking, go, going, buy, buying,
walk, walking. For example, I'm walking to the restaurant. They're drinking milkshakes.
However, when a verb ends in a single E, we have to remove the E and add -ing. So write becomes
writing, bake, baking, take, taking, bike, biking, joke, joking. For all of these in the
main verb it ends with a single E. So we remove the E and add -ing. Examples: I'm taking a nap.
He's writing a book. Now this last spelling role is the most confusing. For short, one syllable
verbs that end with consonant, vowel consonant, we must double the last consonant, and then add -ing.
So for example, run is a short one syllable verb, and it ends with a consonant, and then a vowel,
U, and a consonant. So we have to double the last consonant, which is n, and add -ing. So run
becomes running with two n's. Jog is also a short one syllable verb that ends with a consonant,
a vowel and a consonant. If you are confused on what a vowel is, a vowel is a, e, i, o,
and u. So swim becomes swimming, stop, stopping, get, getting, put, putting, and in all of these,
we have to double the last consonant before adding -ing. For example, dad is running in the park.
She's swimming in the sea. So now let's look at this conversation example, in the present
continuous. Hey, what are you doing? I'm setting the table for dinner. Tina is making an omelet.
That sounds good. I'm going to a fancy restaurant tonight with my new girlfriend.
What's the special occasion? We are celebrating our three-month-anniversary.
Have a great time! In this conversation, you can see we're talking about things that are happening
right now. Jeff is setting the table and his girlfriend is making an omelet.
And Chad is using the present continuous to talk about the future about a future plan.
He's going to a fancy restaurant. So the present continuous is very important to learn in English.
So now let's do some practice. Put the verbs in the correct form of the present continuous.
For example, I go to the cinema tonight. For this one, we would say I'm going to the cinema tonight
or I am going to the cinema tonight. So you have to write the correct form of the verb to be
plus the verb plus -ing. So I'm going to read all of the sentences, and you have to put them
in the correct form. 1 - He eat an apple. 2 - The dog chase the cat. 3 - We run along the beach.
4 - She make dinner for her family. 5 - The girl do her homework. 6 - Catherine and Jennifer swim
in the pool. So number one, we would say he's eating an apple. He's or he is eating an apple.
Number two, the dog is chasing the cat. Now for this one we have to remove the E
because chase ends in a single e. We have to remove the E and add -ing.
Number three, we're running along the beach. We're or we are running. Now run is a short one syllable
word that ends in consonant vowel consonant. So we have to double the N and put -ing. We are running
along the beach. Number four, she's making dinner for her family. Now again make ends in a single e
so we have to remove the E and add -ing. The girl is doing her homework. And finally,
Catherine and Jennifer are, because this is they--there's two women-- are swimming in
the pool. And swimming is also a one-syllable word that ends in consonant vowel consonant. So we have
to double the M. So let me know how many you got correct out of six in the comment section below,
and how you found this lesson-- if it was difficult or easy for you. In my next lesson,
I'll talk about how to make questions and negative statements in the present continuous. Thank you
guys once again for watching, and make sure to subscribe to Sparkle English for more free lessons
on how to improve your level of English. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in my next lesson.