Continuous Verb Tenses

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Slide 1

Continuous verb tenses

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PERFECT VERB CONTINUOUS 1. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS 2. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS 3. FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

SIMPLE VERB CONTINUOUS

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

PAST CONTINUOUS

FUTURE CONTINUOUS

Slide 3

Simple verb continuous

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

PAST CONTINUOUS

FUTURE CONTINUOUS

Slide 4

SIMPLE VERB CONTINUOUS

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

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SIMPLE VERB CONTINUOUS

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

am with the personal pronoun I.

Is with the personal pronouns he, she or it (or the singular forms of nouns.)

Are with the personal pronouns you, we, they (or the plural form of nouns.)

Slide 6

Uses of present continuous

1. Actions taking place at the moment of speaking (now).

He is playing football.

The action is going on now. Signal words like now, at the moment are often used to emphasize that the action is taking place at the moment of speaking. Signal words are not really necessary expressed by the tense itself.

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Uses of PRESENT CONTINUOUS 2.Arrangements for the near future.

I’m going to the theatre tonight.

In the example you can see that the tickets are already bought.

So we are talking about an arrangement for the near future.

To make clear that the action is not going on now, we usually use signal words like tonight, tomorrow, next Friday, at noon.

Slide 8

Uses of PRESENT CONTINUOUS 3. Actions taking place only for a limited period of time.

Jim is helping in his brother’s firm this week.

Here we are talking about a time limit.

Jim does not usually work in the firm; he is still at school and wants to earn some extra money during his holidays.

To make clear that there is a time limit, we usually use signal words, e.g. this week/month/ year.

Slide 9

Uses of PRESENT CONTINUOUS 4. Actions taking place around now(but not at the moment of speaking.

I’m studying for my exams.

This action takes place around now and only for a limited period of time, but not at the moment of speaking.

we don’t have to use signal words here, but we often find signal words in such sentences, e.g. now, at the moment.