English GrammarEnglish GrammarEnglish GrammarEnglish Grammar-

Continuous Tenses-

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Continuous Tenses-

ContinuousContinuousContinuousContinuous

Present continuous Past continuous Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous

Present continuous Past continuous Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous

Present continuousPresent continuous

is composed of two parts: the present tense of the verb to be (am; is ; are)

and the present participle of the main verb verb +(-ing).

Present continuousPresent continuous

refers to:

* events happening at a particular moment. I can’t come now. I’m doing my homework. * temporary situations or events. We’re staying in a wonderful hotel. * changing and developing situations. This area is developing quickly because of

tourism. * the future. John and Matt are going to France this summer.

Every student Every student isis runningrunning.. Every student Every student isis runningrunning..

Be (am, is, are)Be (am, is, are)

+

Present Present ContinuousContinuous

They are talking to each other.

He He is singingis singing..

I I am playingam playing computer computer games.games.

The sun The sun is shiningis shining..

Past continuousPast continuous

is composed of two parts : the past tense of the verb to be (was / were)

and the base of the main verb +ing = verb +(-ing).

Past continuousPast continuous refers to:

* events happening at a particular moment. When you called, I was having a bath. * temporary situations or events. We were living in London for a few months last

summer. * changing and developing situations. Spanish resorts were growing very quickly by the

late 60s. * the future. I was worried because we were having a test next

day.

Every student Every student waswas running running

yesterdayyesterday.. Every student Every student waswas running running

yesterdayyesterday..

was/werewas/were

+

Past Past continuouscontinuous

They were talking to each other yesterday.

He He was singingwas singing yesterday.yesterday.

I I was playingwas playing computer computer games yesterday.games yesterday.

The sun The sun was shiningwas shining yesterday. yesterday.

Present perfect Present perfect continuouscontinuous

is composed of two parts: the present perfect of the verb ‘to be’ (have/has been)

and the present participle of the main verb verb +(-ing).

Present perfect Present perfect continuouscontinuous

refers to: * events continuing up to a particular moment or stopping just before it.

I’m tired because I’ve been running .

Every student Every student has beenhas been runningrunning for two hours. for two hours. Every student Every student has beenhas been runningrunning for two hours. for two hours.

Have/has been

Have/has been+

Present perfect Present perfect continuouscontinuous

They They have been talking to each other for two hours.

He He has been singinghas been singing for two for two hours. hours.

I I have been playinghave been playing computer computer games for two hours.games for two hours.

The sun The sun has been has been shiningshining for two days. for two days.

Past perfect continuousPast perfect continuous

is composed of two parts : the past perfect of the verb to be (had been)

and the present participle =verb + (-ing).

Past perfect Past perfect continuouscontinuous

refers to: * events continuing up to a particular moment or stopping just before it.

We were annoyed because the hotel manager had been lying to us.

Every student Every student had beenhad been runningrunning for two hours. for two hours. Every student Every student had beenhad been runningrunning for two hours. for two hours.

had beenhad been

+

Past perfect Past perfect continuouscontinuous

They had been talking to each other for two hours.

He He had been singinghad been singing for two hours. for two hours.

I I had been playinghad been playing computer computer games for two hours.games for two hours.

The sun The sun had been shininghad been shining for two days.for two days.