In English there is a tense for every tense progressive form. It is used when something is happening. The present progressive only describes those momentary actions that take place in the present tense. The present progressive (or present continuous) is therefore needed to express that something nnot completed yet is or that something is straight at this moment happened.
Is there also a tense in German that corresponds to the present progressive? No, because the present progressive does not exist in German. Sentences like «My husband is working.» (My husband is working.) were copied from English, but they are not grammatically correct. «My husband is working at the moment» would be correct.
Present Progressive – Explanation and Education
With the present progressive you can positive and negative statements meet as well Questions place.
Positive Sentences
You form positive sentences in the present progressive by using the appropriate form of toh well (am/is/are) + the base form of the verb use. To the basic form of the verb (infinitive), you only have to add a –eng hang. Here are three examples to illustrate this:
I am drinking juice.
ben is playing the piano.
They are visiting a friend next week.
As you can see, on the one hand, the correct form of to be used for the respective personal pronouns or names (I am, ben is, they are). On the other hand, an the main verbs play, drink and visit a –eng attached. Otherwise nothing has changed in the verbs.
In these examples and all others that you find here in the text, the personal pronouns and names are also the subjects of the individual sentences.
Here is another small table on the personal pronouns and the correct form of to be.
is
you, we, they
are
You can read more about this verb in the explanation to to be read.
So you can form positive statements in the present progressive according to this pattern:
subject + am/is/are + base form of the verb + -ing
You don’t always have to I am or hey is write out. Instead of the long form, the short form can also be used. It would then look like this:
- I am = I’m
- you/we/they are = you’re/we’re/they’re
- he/she/it is = he’s/she’s/it’s
negation
You form negative statements in the present progressive by using the appropriate form of toh well (am/is/are) + not + the base form of the verb use. You then only have to add one to the basic form of the verb –eng hang. The following three examples illustrate the application:
They are not flying to Spain.
she is not reading a book.
I am not drinking water.
Behind the appropriate form of to be and before the other verb there is a not. to the verbs fly, read and drink just had to –eng to be appended. Otherwise nothing was changed in the verbs.
In order to clarify the difference to the positive sentences again, these have been negated in the following example.
I am not drinking juice.
ben is not playing the piano.
They are not visiting a friend next week.
Here, too, you can remember a pattern of how to form negative statements in the present progressive:
subject + am/is/are + not + base form of the verb + –eng
There is also a short form for negation:
- I am not = I’m not
- you/we/they are not = you/we/they aren’t
- he/she/it is not = he/she/it isn’t
You see that with the personal pronouns the not simply to the conjugated form of to be is appended. That t is separated from the rest of the word by an apostrophe. The personal pronoun is an exception I. You can use the short form for I am apply that not but not to the conjugated form of to be attach.
Questions
In addition to declarative sentences, the present progressive is also used for questions. They are formed in the present progressive by using the appropriate form of toh well (am/is/are) + subject + the base form of the verb use. As always, only one has to be added to the infinitive –eng to be appended.
Is Lena reading a book?
Are we playing soccer today?
The appropriate form of to be stands at the beginning of the question. Only then does the personal pronoun or the name follow and finally the basic form of the verb with an attached –eng.
To illustrate, here are the first example sentences formulated as questions:
On I drinking juice?
Is Ben playing the piano?
Are you visiting a friend next week?
In summary, you can remember that you form questions in the present progressive according to this pattern:
Am/Is/Are + subject + base form of verb + –eng
Questions answered in the negative
As with the statements, you can also ask negative questions in addition to positive questions. You form negative questions in the present progressive by using the appropriate form of to be (am/is/are) + not + subject + the base form of the verb use. You then attach that to the base form of the verb -ing.
To give you a better idea, here are two examples:
Is Lena not reading a book?
are we not playing soccer today?
The appropriate form of is also used here to be back to the beginning of the question. After the name/personal pronoun comes the not. Then comes the base form of the verb with an appended -ing.
If the answer is no, you can also use the short form. In colloquial language, this form is even more advantageous, since the formulations written out in the above examples seem a bit stiff. The short form looks like this:
- Is Lena not reading a book? = Isn’t Lena reading a book?
- Are we not playing soccer today? = Aren’t we playing soccer today?
You can see that the short form is formed here as with the «normal» questions. That not becomes again the conjugated form of to be attached.
Present Progressive – Exceptions
The progressive form of the present (present progressive) is possible with verbs that describe an activity or a process. Most verbs are action verbs such as play, work and run. action verbs are for example become, grow and get at get is in this case meant «become» and not «received».
But there are also verbs that cannot appear in the progressive form:
- Verbs of sense perception, such as hear, feel, button or lake.
- Verbs expressing feelings, knowledge, desires or opinions, such as hate, think, know, like, wish, want or understand.
- Verbs that describe a condition or ownership, such as possess, be, seem, contain, belong or have (in the sense of «possess» and not «have»).
In some cases, verbs like think, see and have still appear in the progressive. However, they then have a different meaning and become action verbs. The following three examples show you this:
- hey is having breakfast now.
- I am thinking of going to the cinema.
- hey is seeing his mother tomorrow.
In these examples have the meaning of «having» and not «possessing» since breakfast is also an activity. Think gets the meaning of «superior» and lake gets the meaning of «meet». The verbs thus become action verbs.
spelling exceptions
If you add the obligatory –eng append, their spelling may change. There are four exceptions you should be aware of:
ExceptionExampleIf the verb ends with a –ethen this is omitted if you do that -ing to the verb append.comecomingI am coming home tonight. If the verb ends in a consonant and the preceding vowel (a, e, i, o, u) is short and stressed, then you must double the consonant if you do that -ing to the verb append.sitseettingShe is sitting on her bed. If the verb ends with a –l and before that there is a vowel, then you have to -l double if you do that -ing to the verb append.traveltravellingWe are traveling around the world. Ends the verb with a -iethen you must take this to a –y change if you do -ing to the verb append.lielyingMy cat is lying on the table.
If a verb with -ee ends, then none falls e away! The verb lake becomes for example to seeing.
Present Progressive – Usage
This table shows you the different situations in which you use the present progressive.
SituationExampleThe action/activity is taking place at this moment and is not yet complete.Mum is cooking at the moment.An existing plan or appointment for the near future is described.I am going to the cinema next Sunday.You want to express that You do something different than usual. Every morning I drink a glass of milk but today I am drinking orange juice.
Present Progressive – signal words
Signal words tell you that you have to use a certain amount of time. Luckily there are a few for the present progressive. If you read one of these words, you must use the present progressive:
signal word example sentence todayBen is learning for school today.at the momentDad is working at the moment.nowI am playing the piano now.right nowLisa is reading the newspaper right now.lists!lists! Tina is singing again. Look!looks! The old man is painting the old house.next Saturday/week/month/…They are driving to Munich next week.
Present progressive examples
Here you will find a clear table with positive and negative example sentences and questions for the present progressive.
Positive statementNo statementQuestionI am leaving for school at 8 am.Linda is not reading a book.Are you going to school today?They are singing.We are not eating lunch today.Is Hanna drinking coffee?She is visiting her grandmother next Tuesday.It is not raining right now.Is Dad working at the moment?
Present Progressive & Simple Present – Comparison
The Present Progressive and the Simple Present are very similar as they both refer to the present tense. Since there is no comparable time with the present progressive in German, the distinction is also more difficult. So that you can use the two times correctly, you are shown the difference between the times here.
TimeUsageExample sentencePresent Progressive
- When an action is happening right now and is not yet complete.
- If you are describing a date in the near future.
- Signal words: just, now, at the moment
simple present
- When something happens regularly.
- If the statement has no reference to time and is generally valid.
- Action that lies in the future and will always happen the same way.
- I usually drink juice.
- In this example you express that you usually drink juice.
Present Progressive – The most important thing
- The present progressive describes actions that still not completed are or straight at this moment occur.
- It is also used for existing appointments or plans in near future used and to express that one something else than usual makes.
- Positive statements are written with the appropriate form of to be + the base form of the verb with an attached –eng educated.
- Negative statements are replaced with the appropriate form of to be + not + base form of the verb with an attached –eng educated.
- For questions, use the appropriate form of to be at the beginning. This is followed by the subject and then the base form of the verb with an appended -ing.
- These signal words show you that you have to use the present progressive: today, at the moment, now, right now, listen!, look! and next Sunday/week/…