Present Continuous Tense

Hello, boys and girls! My name is Bobby.

And my name is Tobby. This is our friend Mobby.

Welcome to our lesson.

Today we would like to tell you one interesting story.

It’s about two bunnies and one very powerful but angry genie.

Listen to this story, please.

This will help you to guess the topic of our lesson today.

One day Bim and Bom decided to go for a walk. The bunnies were really hungry, so they took four carrots with them. When the bunnies hit the road, it was already night. They went past the church and suddenly the bunnies saw a cave.

Bim, we walk down this path almost every day, but I’ve never seen this cave before.

Neither have I.

Would you like to walk in it?

Sure, Bom, let’s find out what’s inside this cave!

Bim and Bom went inside the cave. It was dark in there, but they could see a little brook. It was really beautiful. And the water in the brook was so clear. Then Bim and Bom heard some strange noises. The bunnies got frightened. Suddenly an angry genie appeared in the cave and shouted:

Hello, my dinner!

Wow! You are a genie! But wait… Did you say “dinner”?

Oh, yes, I did!

No, please, don’t eat us!

You are a genie! Genies are supposed to grant wishes but not eat anyone.

Oh, no! I don’t usually eat anyone, but today I’m in a very bad mood.

What’s wrong?

Maybe we can do something for you?!

Oh, I’m not sure you can… My friend and I usually meet here at night, but he didn’t show up for two days. He left me only this letter. That’s all!

Oh, did you read it?

No, I can’t read. I used my magic to read it…

And?

And it didn’t work! I just made it worse. Some of the words got mixed up because of my magic.

Oh, it’s not a problem.

Yeah! We can help you to read this letter.

Really? That would be awesome!

Bom took the letter and the bunnies started looking through it.

Let’s look through this letter too.

Bim and Bom worked really hard and finally they managed to put all the words into the correct places. Then Bim started reading the letter.

“Dear, friend. I am sitting outside in the garden at this moment while I am writing you this letter. The sun is shining so bright and it’s very warm. I am writing to tell you that tomorrow my sister and I are going to London for some days. But we are planning to come back soon. Can’t wait to see you. Bye.”

Guys, now look at the verbs in bold.

The genie’s friend wrote them in the Present Continuous Tense.

And what do you know about this tense?

If you know nothing, don’t worry.

We will explain this rule to you.

So today in the lesson we will:

revise the definition of the term “tense”;

And

talk about the Present Continuous Tense.

First of all, let’s start with the meaning of the term “tense”.

Tense is a method to express time through verbs.

Let’s see what I mean.

Look at the following timeline.

Now you see me here… on the screen. This is my Present.

I’m 10 years old now.

If we go back… for example, to the point when I was only 7 months old, we will find ourselves in my Past.

And look: it’s me many years later. This is my Future.

To talk about my life or someone else’s life in the past, present or future we need to use verbs.

Do you know why we need them?

We need verbs, because they are the words which mean action. We cannot form sentences without them.

And you need to know that verbs change their forms depending on the time we want to speak about.

So if I want to speak about my Past, I need to use Past Tenses.

If I want to speak about my Present, I need to use Present Tenses.

And if I want to speak about my Future, I need to use Future Tenses.

As we have already said before, today we are going to talk about one of the Present Tenses – about the Present Continuous Tense.

And now let’s answer the first question: “When do we need to use the Present Continuous Tense?”

We need to use the Present Continuous Tense when we talk about the actions which are happening now.

For example:

My grandad is reading a newspaper now.

Now let’s answer the second question: “What time markers can we use in the Present Continuous Tense?”

Time markers – указатели времени.

And the answer is:

In the Present Continuous Tense we can use the following time markers: now and at this moment.

For example:

The cow is eating the grass at this moment.

And the last question is “How do we form sentences in the Present Continuous Tense?”

The answer is:

To form positive sentences in the Present Continuous Tense we need to put the subject in the first place.

The subject is translated as “подлежащее”. It can be expressed by a noun or                 a personal pronoun.

Noun – существительное.

Personal pronoun – личное местоимение.

For example:

I, the fox or the dogs.

Then we need to use one of the forms of the verb “to be”: am, is, are.

We use “am” only with the pronoun I.

We use “is” with the pronouns he, she, it.

And we use “are” with the pronouns we, you, they.

For example:

I am…

The fox is…

(Here we can replace the word “the fox” with the pronoun “it”).

Or

The dogs are…

(In this sentence we can replace the word “the dogs” with the pronoun “they”).

After that we need to use the main verb with the ending -ing.

For example:

I am watching TV.

The fox is listening to music.

Or

The dogs are looking at the sky.

To form negative sentences in the Present Continuous Tense we need to put the subject in the first place.

For example:

I, the fox or the dogs.

Then we need to use am, is or are with particle “not”, which can be translated as “не”.

For example:

I am not…

The fox is not…

Or

The dogs are not…

After that we need to use the main verb with the ending -ing.

For example:

I am not watching TV.

The fox is not listening to music.

Or

The dogs are not looking at the sky.

And to form questions in the Present Continuous Tense we need to put am, is or are – in the first place. After that we need to use the subject.

For example:

Am I

Is the fox

Are the dogs

Then we need to use the main verb with the ending -ing.

For example:

Am I watching TV?

Is the fox listening to music?

Are the dogs looking at the sky?

Boys and girls, we’ve told you everything about the Present Continuous Tense.

Now… do you want to know the end of the story about two bunnies and the angry genie?

I’m sure you do! Let’s listen to it.

Oh, now I know where my friend is. Thank you so much!

You’re welcome. Dear genie, we have only one wish.

Could you grant it, please?

Sure. You helped me a lot, so you can ask me for anything!

Oh, thank you so much, but all we want is to find ourselves at home.

That’s all?

Yes.

All right. As you wish!

In a moment the bunnies turned out to be at home. Bim and Bom were so happy about that!

That’s all for today, our dear friends.

See you soon.