Uses of the present progressive tense

1
Uses of the present progressive tense

• There are four basic uses of the present
  progressive tense. We use it for
• Actions in progress at the moment of speaking
  Hes working at the moment.
• Temporary situations/actions, not necessarily in
  progress at the moment of speaking My daughter
  is studying English at Durham University.
• Planned actions ( future adverbial reference)
  Were spending next winter in Australia.
• Repeated acitons with adverbs like always,
  forever Shes always helping people.

2
Uses of the present simple

1. Permanent truths Summer follows spring.
2. The present period (this is the situation at
   present) My sister works in a bank.
3. Habitual actions I get up at 7.
4. Furture reference (for timetables, etc.) The
   concert begins at 7.20 next Friday evening.
5. Observations and declarations I hope so.
6. Instructions First you weigh the ingredients.
7. Commentaries Becker serves to Lendl.

3
Stative and dynamic verbs

• We call a few verbs like love stative because
  they refer to states. A state has no beginning
  and no end. We dont control it, so we dont
  normally use stative verbs in progressive tenses
  She loves her baby more than anything. (not is
  loving)
• Most verbs in English are dynamic. We can use
  them in two ways
• - in the simple present tense to describe
  habits.
• - in the present progressive to describe
  deliberate actions in progress.

4
Stative and dynamic verbs.

• We can describe three classes of verbs
• a) Dynamic verbs which have simple or
  progressive forms I often listen to CDs. Im
  listening to a CD.
• b) Verbs which are always stative
• This coat belongs to you.
• c) Verbs that have stative or dynamic uses
• Im weighing myself. (a deliberate action
  present progressive tense)
• I weigh 65 kilos. (a state)

5
Stative and dynamic verbs.

• There are five groups of stative verbs referring
  to
• a) feelings (like, love, etc.)
• b) thinking/believing (think, understand, etc.)
• c) wants (want, prefer, etc.)
• d) perception (hear, see, etc.)
• e) being/having/owning (appear, seem, belong,
  etc.)