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Used to: Meaning and form. We use used to when we refer to things in the past which are no longer true. It can refer to repeated actions or to a state or situation: He used to play football for the local team, but he's too old now.

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1.   Sequence of actions in the present (first - then, after that)
2.  Repeated actions

3.  Instructions

4.  Things in general

5.  After special verbs

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1. always

2. often

3. usually

4. sometimes

5. seldom

6. never

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1. Verbs ending in a consonant +y   ->-ies =  tidy - tidies
2. Verbs ending in a vowels +y->-s = say - says
3. Verbs ending in -ss, -sh, -ch, -x,    -o ->-es = go - goes

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I - You - We - They + V  + O

He - She - It + Vs  + O

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I - You - We - They + Don't + V1 + O

He - She - It + Doesn't + V1 + O

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Do + I - You - We - They + V1 + O?

Does + He - She - It + V1 + O?

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Form

am/is/are + present participle (verb + ing)

Meaning

Present continuous is used to talk about something that is happening at the time of speaking.

He is speaking to John.

What is she doing?

Present continuous is used to talk about temporary situations.

I‘m living in London at the moment.

Why is she moving house?

Present continuous is used to talk about changing situations.

You’re getting taller and taller every day.

The weather‘s getting warmer.

Present continuous is used to talk about repeated actions around the time of speaking.

I’m seeing Jane a lot these days.

Present continuous is used to talk about future arrangements.

I’m meeting my father at the airport at 5 o’clock tomorrow.

We’re having lunch together at the weekend.

When we are talking about how someone looks or feels, present continuous or present simple can be used.

How are you feeling? / How do you feel?

Jenny is looking really good today? / Jenny looks really good today.

Additional points

Some verbs are not normally used with present continuous because these verbs are not normally action verbs, for example: believe, belong, depend, hate, know, like, love, mean, need, prefer, realise, suppose, want, understand.

They know each other very well – correct

They are knowing each other very well – incorrect

Present continuous in detail

Present continuous form

How do we form the present continuous?

We form the present continuous with the auxiliary verb “be” and the present participle form of the main verb. For the auxiliary verb “be” we use its present forms am, are and is:

am/are/is + present participle

The present participle form of all verbs ends in “ing”, and to make it we normally simply need to add “ing” to the base form of the verb. There are some exceptions though:

Verb Rule Example

Most verbs ending with consonant + “e” take off the “e” hoping; taking

Most verbs ending in consonant + vowel + consonant double the last consonant batting; referring; swimming

Verbs ending in consonant + vowel + consonant where the last consonant is “w”, “x” or “y” don’t double the last consonant blowing; flexing

Verbs ending in “ie” change the “ie” to “y” dying; lying

Verbs ending in “c” add “k” panicking

Present continuous affirmative

Here are some examples of present continuous sentences using am/are/is and the present participle:

I am typing on my computer.

They are laughing at the dog.

You are swimming in the pool.

We can use a contraction of the auxiliary verb in order to sound more natural in spoken English:

I’m typing on my computer.

They’re laughing at the dog.

You’re swimming in the pool.

Present continuous questions

To make present continuous questions we can use subject-auxiliary inversion. This means that we swap around the position of the auxiliary verb and the subject. Here’s how it works with yes/no questions:

Am I typing on my computer?

Are they laughing at the dog?

Are you swimming in the pool?

And here are some examples of object and adverb questions, adding a question word to the beginning of the questions:

What am I typing on my computer?

Why are they laughing at the dog?

Why are you swimming in the pool?

For present continuous subject questions, the question word just replaces the subject, like this:

Who is typing on my computer?

Who is laughing at the dog?

Who is swimming in the pool?

With subject questions, we always use “is” for the auxiliary verb. That’s because when we’re asking a question about the subject we don’t yet know if the subject is in the first person, second person or third person. If we knew this, we wouldn’t need to ask the question in the first place.

Present continuous negatives

To make a negative present continuous sentence, we use an auxiliary verb (which we already have) and “not”. Here are some examples:

I am not typing on my computer.

They are not laughing at the dog.

You are not swimming in the pool.

We can contract these negative present continuous sentences, like this:

I ‘m not typing on my computer.

They ‘re not laughing at the dog.

You ‘re not swimming in the pool.

Present continuous meaning

When do we use the present continuous?

Now that we’ve seen how to make a present continuous sentence, let’s have a look at why we use it – its meaning. We can get a clue from the other name for present continuous: present progressive. The word “progressive” suggests something which is in progress or changing.

Here are the different uses of the present continuous:

Actions in progress at or around the time of speaking

Have a look at these sentences:

John and Anna are playing tennis.

Superman is flying very quickly through the sky.

The speaker chooses to use present continuous in both these sentences to tell us that these actions are in progress at the time of speaking. For this to be true these actions must have started at some point before the time of speaking (although we don’t know exactly when – maybe 10 seconds before, maybe one hour) and will finish at some point after the time of speaking (again we don’t know exactly when.)

If we compare these sentences to the present simple we can see the difference in meaning:

John and Anna play tennis.

Superman flies very quickly through the sky.

Now we simply have two facts. We don’t have any information about whether John, Anna and Superman are playing tennis and flying at the moment (they may or may not be) – we simply know that this is what they do.

Temporary situations

We also use present progressive to talk about situations which we think of as temporary. Here are some examples:

Jane’s driving her husband’s car at the moment because hers is being repaired.

I’m staying with a friend in London.

We understand when we hear these sentences that as soon as Jane’s car is repaired she will stop driving her husband’s, and that some time soon I will find a place of my own to live. So we think of these situations as temporary and expect them to end soon. We often use time expressions like “for the time being” and “this week” in this kind of sentence.

Now, if you look again at the “playing tennis” and “Superman” examples you might well be thinking that they too are temporary situations. Unless John and Anna intend to continue their game of tennis for all eternity we can understand that the action will end sometime soon. So what’s the difference? Well, let’s write two different versions of the “tennis” example and find out:

John and Anna are playing tennis.

John and Anna are playing tennis this week because the swimming pool is closed.

In the first sentence the action is in progress as we speak. In the second sentence though the emphasis is on the fact that John and Anna’s situation (having to play tennis) is a temporary one, which we expect to end just as soon as the gym reopens. They may or may not be actually playing tennis at this particular moment.

And this tells us something important about meaning. Very often just the verb form itself (choosing present progressive rather than present simple, for example) gives us enough information about the meaning of what is said. But sometimes – like in this case – we may also need information from the context (what we know about the situation) or from the words surrounding the example (called the cotext) in order to understand the more precise meaning.

Changing situations

We said earlier that the word “progressive” can suggest something which is changing, which brings us to the next reason to use present progressive.

Alex is getting taller every day!

House prices are going up.

These are changing situations. Once again there is not necessarily a clear distinction between this and the other meanings we’ve already seen. The actions of “getting taller” and “going up” are both in progress at the time of speaking and are probably temporary too. Alex will, we imagine, stop growing at some point and house prices will probably fall at some point too. But with these sentences we have the added meaning that something (Alex’s height, house prices) is changing. We didn’t get this meaning with our other examples – there was no change involved when we said “Superman is flying” and “She’s driving her husband’s car”.

Repeated actions around the time of speaking

We use present progressive to show that an action or occurrence happens repeatedly around the time of speaking. Sometimes this repeated action causes us to be surprised or curious because of a change in the other person’s normal behaviour, and sometimes it makes us irritated. Have a look at these examples:

You’re seeing Jane a lot these days.

Bob’s always complaining about how difficult his life is.

In the first example the speaker is surprised, or perhaps curious to know more, because “seeing Jane a lot” represents a change in the other person’s normal behaviour. In the second example the speaker is annoyed at Bob’s constant complaining. We normally use “always” before the main verb to show this irritation.

Now, saying these two sentences in the present simple also works, but again if we do this we are left with just plain facts – we lose the information about how the speaker feels about the situation:

You see a lot of Jane these days.

Bob always complains about how difficult his life is.

Present continuous additional points

Present continuous and stative verbs

Dynamic verbs describe an action or occurrence, and stative verbs describe a state of being. Here are some examples of dynamic and stative verbs in present continuous:

The dog is walking down the road. (dynamic verb)

I am building a beautiful house on this land. (dynamic verb)

Anna is knowing Jim well. (stative verb)

I am liking cake. (stative verb)

The two sentences with the dynamic verbs sound okay – it looks like using these verbs in the progressive form works. But the sentences with the stative verbs don’t sound quite right. And that’s because there is no action involved with these verbs. Anna either knows Jim or she doesn’t, and I either like cake or I don’t. It isn’t possible (or would at least be very strange) for Anna to know Jim or for me to like cake only at the time of speaking. As a result, we don’t normally use stative verbs in the present continuous form.

Some verbs though can be both dynamic and stative, depending on how we use them. This means that we can use the verb with its dynamic meaning in the present progressive form:

I think France is a great place to live. (think – stative – present simple)

Wait! Can’t you see he’s thinking about his answer? (think – dynamic – present continuous)

It’s also becoming more and more common to use verbs which were traditionally only stative verbs in continuous form. Here’s an example:

I love your new car. (love – stative – present simple)

I’m loving your new car! (love – stative but used in a dynamic way – present progressive)

Are present continuous and present progressive the same?

Present progressive is another name for present continuous and so they are exactly the same. Using “present progressive” gives us a better idea of its meaning – the word “progressive” suggests that something is in progress or changing.

Present continuous signal words

Signal words are words or phrases which often go hand in hand with a particular tense. They can give us clues about which tense to expect or to use. Some common signal words with present continuous are time words like “now”, “at the moment”, “this week” and “for the time being” and the words “Look!” and “Listen!”

Look! The match is starting.

Listen! The baby is crying.

Sorry, I can’t come. I’m working at the moment.

I’m staying in Manchester this week.

We have to be a bit careful with signal words though – they can just as easily signal another tense:

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1. YESTERDAY

2. AGO

3. LAST

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1. Two or more actions happening at the same time in the past.
2. An action that was in progress at a particular time in the past. We don't know when the action started or finished.
3. Set the background of a story.

4. Used for an action that was in progress in the past that was interrupted by another action.

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FIRST SENTENCE              -      SECOND SENTENCE

WHEN + SIMPLE PAST      -       If short event(SIMPLE PAST)
(SHORT EVENT) If long event(PAST CONT.)

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FIRST SENTENCE             -            SECOND SENTENCE

WHILE + PAST CONTINOUS   -     IF Short event(SIMPLE P.)
(LONG EVENT) IF Long event(PAST CONT.)

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WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN USED TO - PAST SIMPLE

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WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN USED TO - PAST SIMPLE

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We use WILL: to express beliefs about the present or future. to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do. to make promises, offers and requests.

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We use BE GOING TO to talk about future plans and intentions. Usually the decision about the future plans has already been made: She's going to be a professional dancer when she grows up. I'm going to look for a new place to live next month.

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We use the past perfect simple (had + past participle) to talk about time up to a certain point in the past. She'd published her first poem by the time she was eight. We'd finished all the water before we were halfway up the mountain. Had the parcel arrived when you called yesterday?

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The present perfect is often used for an action that started at some time in the past and is still continuing now. In this case, the words for (with a length or period of time) and since (with a specific starting time) are usually used with the present perfect.

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We often use the passive: when we prefer not to mention who or what does the action (for example, it's not known, it's obvious or we don't want to say) so that we can start a sentence with the most important or most logical information.

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O+will/am is are going to be+v3

Active : We will take the horses to the stable.

Passive: The horses will be taken to the stable.

Active : Will the manager sign the contract tomorrow.

Passive: Will the contract be signed by the manager tomorrow.

Active : Is anybody going to invite me?

Passive: Am I going to be invited by anybody?

Active : I am going to pay his debts.

Passive: His debts are going to be paid by me.

Active : The police are going to investigate the case.

Passive: The case is going to be investigated by the police.

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O+have/has been+v3

Active : They have cleaned the clinic.

Passive: The clinic has been cleaned by them.

Active : Thomas has written many books.

Passive: Many books have been written by Thomas.

Active : Have the police caught the man?

Passive: Has the man been caught by the police?

Active : UPS has delivered the letters.

Passive: The letters have been delivered by UPS.

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O+am is are +v3

Active : The gardener waters the flowers every evening.

Passive: The flowers are watered by the gardener every evening.

Active : Helen doesn't drink anything in parties.

Passive: Nothing is drunk by Helen in parties.

Active : Who sells umbrellas?

Passive: Who are umbrellas sold by?

Active : My mother doesn't paint the walls.

Passive: The walls aren't painted by my mother.

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O+was/were+v3

Active : The teacher corrected the mistakes.

Passive: The mistakes were corrected by the teacher.

Active : Did the little boy sell all the candy bars?

Passive: Were all the candy bars sold by the little boy?

Active : Lauren didn't eat any apples.

Passive: No apples were eaten by Lauran.

Active : He didn't give the wallet.

Passive: The wallet wasn't given by him.

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The structure for the present continuous passive is: subject + is/are + BEING + the past participle. Note that the person who is fixing the car is not mentioned in the sentence “My car is being fixed.” Leaving out the person or thing doing the action is common in passive statements.

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Making conditional sentences is an everyday part of your native language, and introducing them to your English conversation can really improve your level of communication. There are four conditionals in total and you will learn to use them gradually, obviously starting with the most basic ones – the zero and first conditional. To have a general idea of how all the conditionals work, take a look at this overview so you can start to get an idea of what they are and when we use them.

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We use the zero conditional to talk about permanent truths, such as scientific facts, and general habits. The structure is simple:

EXAMPLE

If you heat water to 100°, it boils.

If you eat a lot, you put on weight.

If it doesn’t rain for a long time, the earth gets very dry.

If we go out with friends, we normally go to a restaurant.

If I’m tired, I go to bed early.

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We use the first conditional to talk about a realistic situation in the present or future. The structure of the first conditional is as follows:

Here are some examples:

If you’re free later, we can go for a walk.

If they’re hungry, I’ll make some sandwiches.

If you’re not back by 5pm, give me a ring.

If he studies hard, he’ll do well in the exam.

If we arrive late, we must get a taxi.

He’ll call if he needs help.

Take a break if you’re tired.

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We use the second conditional to talk about improbable or impossible situations in the present or future. Here is the structure:

For example:

If I had more time, I’d exercise more. (But I don’t have more time so I don’t.)

If I were rich, I’d spend all my time travelling. (But I’m not rich so I can’t.)

If she saw a snake, she’d be terrified.

If he didn’t have to work late, he could go out with his girlfriend.

What would you do if you were offered a job in Canada?

You wouldn’t have to walk everywhere if you bought a bike.

A common expression used to give advice has the second conditional structure. The expression is ‘If I were you, I’d..’, meaning ‘in your situation, this is what I would do’. For example:

A: I’ve got a headache.

B: If I were you, I’d take an aspirin.

A: I don’t understand this.

B: If I were you, I’d ask your teacher for help.

A: This order won’t be delivered on time.

B: If I were you, I’d phone the customer to let them know.

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We use the third conditional to talk about impossible situations, as in the second conditional, in the past. We often use the third conditional to describe regrets. The structure is:

Here are some examples:

If we had left earlier, we would have arrived on time.

If you hadn’t forgotten her birthday, she wouldn’t have been upset.

If they had booked earlier, they could have found better seats.

If I hadn’t learnt English, I wouldn’t have got this job.

What would you have studied if you hadn’t done engineering?

They wouldn’t have hired you if you hadn’t had some experience abroad.

You could have helped me if you’d stayed later.