A Read the following passage and notice the verbs in the sentences:
I am going to Dhaka by bus. It is raining very hard. So the bus is not running very fast. Some passengers are sleeping. Some are gossiping. Some young boys are singing. A baby is crying and her mother is trying to appease her. What am I doing? I am watching all these things.
Notice that all the sentences in the passage express an incomplete action which is still going on.
Also notice the structure of the verbs in these sentences? Each sentence has an auxiliary verb (am/is/are) after the subject and then there is the main verb in the present participle form (verb+ing).
Verb Form: 'am/is/are +main verb+ing'.
B. Read the following conversation and say what time the verbs in it refer to.
Mim: What are you doing this evening?
Shanta: I am going shopping.
Mim: Are you playing badminton tomorrow?
Shanta: Yes, I am. Mukta is coming today to join us.
Mim: What time is she arriving? I am going to receive her at the station.
In these sentences it is seen that the present continuous tense is also used to indicate a definite future action.
C. Look at the following pictures and say who is doing what in it:
D. Read the following dialogue and say which sentences refer to present actions and which ones refer to future actions:
Sharmin : What are you doing there?
Sharif : I am getting ready to go to market.
Sharmin : What are you going to buy?
Sharif : My son is home tomorrow. So I am going to buy some sweets.
E. Write sentences of your own using the following verbs in the present continuous tense:
Walk, work, eat, drink, drive and wait
Now change your sentences into negatives and interrogatives.
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