Let’s learn about how to use the present continuous tense!
To make this tense we need the following
[subject] + be verb + present participle
I am learning
I’m trying to understand the new system.
Next week, I’m going to the conference.
I’m working on a new deal.
Let’s look at the present continuous and the different ways it is used in English.
The first most easy way to use present continuous is when talking about what is happening exactly now. For example
right now I’m speaking into a microphone and the words are appearing on your screen.
But there are other ways we use the present continuous:
I’m working on a project with one of our partners for the next few weeks
This week I’m trying to get a better way to record our sales activity
Over the next two days, I’m preparing for our customer meeting
In these situations the speaker might not be doing the activity exactly now. But this is used to talk about short-term activities and tasks That will end soon.
You’ll notice that each of these expressions uses a time frame.
The final way we use present continuous is actually with future events.
For example we can say:
I’m going to go to Hawaii on Monday
but because this is decided plan, we can simply say
I’m going to Hawaii on Monday.
Look at these other examples:
On Tuesday the 25th I’m having a meeting with the customer
My brother is getting married next Saturday At 4pm I’m giving a business presentation in the main conference room
The really important thing is that we use a time frame to say exactly when this is happening this is because there is a big difference between
I’m having a meeting and I’m having a meeting tomorrow afternoon
And that seems simple enough!
