Learn English with Bob the Canadian

Learn English Tenses: The Present Continuous

Transcript

00:00 - I am running. 00:02 I'm running. 00:05 I am jumping. 00:09 I'm jumping. 00:14 I am walking. 00:19 I'm walking. 00:22 Hi, Bob, the Canadian here. 00:23 Welcome to this English lesson 00:24 where I'm going to help you learn the English tense 00:27 called the present continuous. 00:29 That's where you use sentences like this: 00:32 I am making a video. 00:33 You are watching a video. 00:35 I am teaching you English. 00:37 You are learning English. 00:39 I am speaking. 00:40 You are listening. 00:42 We'll look at how to form the present continuous. 00:45 We'll look at how to use contractions 00:46 when using the present continuous. 00:48 And then I'll show you when you are supposed 00:50 to use this tense when you're speaking the English language. 00:52 (acoustic guitar music) 01:00 So there's two things you need to know 01:02 when you are forming the present continuous. 01:05 The first thing you need to know is the present simple form 01:08 of the verb to be, or the simple present, 01:11 it has two names, and that looks like this. 01:13 You would say things like: I am, you are, he is, she is, 01:18 we are, or they are. 01:20 But we don't actually use those forms 01:23 when we are using the present continuous in English speech. 01:26 We use the contracted forms. 01:28 We use the contractions. 01:29 So instead of saying, I am, we would say, I'm. 01:32 We would say, you're, instead of you are. 01:35 We would say, he's or she's 01:36 instead of, he is and she is. 01:38 And we would say, we're instead of we are. 01:41 And we would say, they're instead of they are. 01:43 So when you use the present continuous in writing, 01:47 you are most likely going to use the uncontracted form. 01:50 But when you use it in everyday speech, 01:52 you're most likely going to use the contracted form. 01:55 So that means a sentence like, I am making a video, 01:58 would actually be, I'm making a video. 02:01 We don't often in spoken everyday English 02:04 say things like, I am making a video. 02:07 It sounds kind of odd. 02:08 It's not incorrect, 02:10 but we would most likely say, I'm making a video. 02:13 When I say, you are watching a video, 02:16 it still sounds a little strange to my ear. 02:19 Again, it's correct, 02:20 but we would most likely say, you're watching a video. 02:23 So I'm making a video and you're watching a video. 02:27 Once you have the verb to be correctly conjugated, 02:30 in most cases, you simply take the verb you want to use 02:34 and add ING to the end. 02:35 So if you want it to use the verb, read, 02:37 you would say, I'm reading. 02:39 You need to be careful though 02:40 because there are some exceptions. 02:42 There are some verbs that are a little bit irregular. 02:45 If you look at the verb, to run, 02:47 you'll notice that when I say I'm running... 02:50 I'm running. 02:52 I've added another N. 02:54 If you look at the verb, to sit, 02:56 you would say, I'm sitting. 02:58 Notice I've added extra T. 03:00 So there are some verbs that have little rules 03:03 that you need to memorize. 03:04 If you look at the verb, to write, 03:06 you'll notice that you drop the E 03:08 and you add ING to say, I'm writing. 03:11 So be careful. 03:12 You need to memorize and learn which verbs 03:15 are slightly irregular, 03:16 but in most situations you will simply 03:19 be adding ING to the verb. 03:21 So when do you use the present continuous? 03:24 Well, the first situation where you would use 03:26 the present continuous is to describe the things 03:29 that you are doing right now. 03:31 So, I'm sitting on a chair. 03:34 I'm running on the spot. 03:36 I'm hopping. 03:38 So when you want to describe things that you are doing 03:42 in the moment, things that you are doing right now, 03:45 you would use the present continuous. 03:47 The second situation where you would use 03:49 the present continuous is to talk about things 03:52 that you are currently doing in your life. 03:55 Let me give you some questions and answers. 03:57 And I think that will help you understand. 03:59 If my son who is in university was talking to my mum, 04:03 my mum could say, "What are you studying?" 04:06 And my son could say, "I'm studying accounting." 04:09 So he's not in that moment 04:11 sitting with his accounting book open, 04:13 he's having a conversation with my mum. 04:15 But he's talking about something that he's doing. 04:18 If my mom asked my other son, 04:21 "Do you have your driver's license?" 04:23 My son could reply and say, "No, I'm learning to drive." 04:27 So he's talking about something he's doing in his life. 04:29 He's not doing it right at that moment 04:32 but he's in the process of doing it. 04:34 So the second situation where you would use 04:37 the present continuous is to talk about something 04:40 that you're doing in your life. 04:42 The third situation where you can use 04:43 the present continuous is a little bit strange, 04:46 because you can use it to talk about the future. 04:49 You can use it to talk about an event in the future 04:53 that's already planned. 04:54 So you can say things like this: 04:56 I'm going to Toronto this weekend. 04:59 You can say things like, I'm visiting my mom on Friday. 05:03 So if you have an event in the future and it is planned, 05:07 you can use the present continuous to talk about it. 05:11 Next fall, Jen and I are going to Toronto. 05:15 Next weekend, I'm going to my mom's house. 05:18 So it seems a little strange, 05:19 and if you're not comfortable using the present continuous, 05:23 you can use one of the future tenses. 05:25 You can say, I will be visiting my mum, 05:27 or I will be going to Toronto. 05:29 Those are fine as well. 05:31 But the third situation where you can use 05:33 the present continuous 05:34 is to talk about a planned event in the future. 05:38 I'm not sitting. 05:41 And now I'm not standing. 05:43 Did you know I was sitting on a stool? 05:44 Maybe you didn't. 05:45 But anyways, you'll notice I used the negative form 05:48 of the present continuous. 05:50 I said, "I'm not sitting." 05:52 And then I said, "I'm not standing." 05:54 In order to create the negative, 05:56 you simply add the word, not, between the to be form 06:00 of the verb and the ING form. 06:02 So you say things like, I'm not sitting, 06:04 I'm not standing, I'm not walking, I'm not running. 06:08 In English, it's very common to ask questions 06:10 using the present continuous. 06:12 But when we do that, 06:13 we usually invert the to be verb and the subject. 06:17 So we say things like this: 06:19 Are you learning English? 06:20 The response would be, I'm learning English. 06:22 Are you having fun? 06:24 The response would be, yes, I'm having fun. 06:26 So when you ask a question using the present continuous, 06:30 make sure you remember to invert 06:33 the beginning of the sentence. 06:34 So I hope you are having fun. 06:36 Are you having fun? 06:38 One of the best ways to practice the present continuous 06:40 is to do what I call narrate your life. 06:43 This means you say out loud or in your mind 06:47 what you are doing as you go through your day. 06:50 So you would do things like this. 06:52 You would say, I'm driving my car, I'm going to work, 06:55 I'm eating my lunch, I'm playing the piano, I'm watching TV. 07:00 If you can start to use the present continuous 07:03 to describe either out loud or in your mind 07:06 the things that you are doing, 07:07 it will really help you learn this verb conjugation, 07:10 and you'll have it down pat. 07:12 Anyway, it's Bob the Canadian here. 07:13 Thank you so much again for watching this lesson. 07:15 If this is your first time here, 07:17 don't forget to click this red subscribe button. 07:19 And if everyone could give me a thumbs up, 07:21 that would be amazing. 07:22 And if you have a little bit more time, 07:23 why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson? 07:26 (upbeat music)