The present continuous is used to express many different ideas. Here are the most important among them.

A pre-planned future event.

• We are visiting grandmother on Sunday.
• They are arriving tomorrow.
• The Prime Minister is visiting Germany in October.

Insistence

• You are not coming with me.
• You are not watching TV before doing your homework.
• You are drinking this soup whether you like it or not.

Annoyance

• Why are you being so rude?
• You are giving me so much trouble.
• You aren’t eating anything.

An ongoing change or something like this.

• Sea levels are rising all over the world.
• Temperature is increasing.
• Prices are rising.

Emphatic refusal

• I am not lending you my car again.
• You are not reading my letters again.

Something going on around now.

• He is working on a new project.
• I am reading Brothers Karamazov now.
• She is preparing for her exam.

Temporary action or situation.

• She is staying with her parents now.
• She is working in a restaurant at the moment.  

Fill in the blanks with a present continuous tense form.

1. She …………………………….. (look) for a job.

2. The cat …………………….. the mouse. (chase)

3. The girl ………………………….. her homework. (do)

4. The man ………………………… outside. (wait)

5. The students ………………………… for the result. (wait)

6. The police ……………………………… the case. (investigate)

7. The suspect ……………………….. still ………………………. (abscond)

8. Rahul and his family …………………………. (holiday) in Shimla.

9. I ………………………… (quit) my job.

Answers

1. is looking, 2. is chasing, 3. is doing, 4. is waiting, 5. are waiting, 6. are investigating, 7. is still absconding, 8. are holidaying, 9. am quitting