To say we are not doing something at the moment in Present Continuous, we use:
am/is/are + not + the ‘-ing’ form of the verb
| Singular | Plural |
| I am not sleeping You are not (aren’t) sleeping He/she/it is not (isn’t) sleeping | We aren’t sleeping You aren’t sleeping They aren’t sleeping |
| Note: The verb ‘be’ (am/is/are) + not may be contracted. – I’m not watching TV. – Jack isn’t walking. – We’re not (We aren’t) eating. |
Watch this video from Learn English Hamza Classroom to see more examples of Present Continuous negative:
To ask questions in Present Continuous, we use:
am/is/are + subject + ‘-ing’ form of the verb
To create a question that will be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, use ‘am‘/’is‘/’are‘ (or ‘isn’t‘/’aren’t‘ for a negative question) + ‘-ing’ form of the verb.
| Singular | Plural |
| Am I working? Are you working? Is he/she/it working? | Are we working? Are you working? Are they working? |
| Note: We don’t say ‘Yes, I’m’ to answer positive questions, we say ‘Yes, I am.’ We can say ‘No, I’m not’ or ‘No, I am not’ to answer negative questions: – Are you studying now? – Yes, I am (No, I’m not). – Is Ben playing golf? – Yes, he is (No, he isn’t). – Are your friends staying at a hotel? – Yes, they are (No, they aren’t). |
Special questions (also known as wh-questions) are questions that require more information in their answers. They are made using wh- words such as what, where, when, why, which, who, how, how many, how much.
To make a special question, use the same word order as with yes-no questions but put a wh-word before the verb ‘am’, ‘is’ or ‘are’. The structure is:
wh-word + am/is/are + [subject] + -ing verb
Here’s a good video from New Model for Learning English explaining how to make questions in Present Continuous:
Read more:
Present Continuous: Statements
The synonyms and related words of "Brag" are: blow, bluster, boast, gas, gasconade, shoot a…
The synonyms and related words of "Pierce" are: thrust, make a hole in, penetrate, puncture,…
The synonyms and related words of "Weary" are: aweary, tired, tired out, exhausted, fatigued, overtired,…
The synonyms and related words of "Kick" are: complain, kvetch, plain, quetch, sound off, give…
The synonyms and related words of "Useless" are: futile, pointless, purposeless, impractical, vain, in vain,…
Want to describe something with adjectives that start with 'J'? Though they are not numerous,…