Present Progressive The present progressive (present continuous) tense is formed with a present form of be (i.c., am, is, or are) and the present participle of the main verb. Basic Meaning The basic meaning of the present progressive, taught in every English language teaching textbook, is ongoing action at the time of speaking. Time adverbs such as right now emphasize the immediacy of the ongoing action, as in (29a), which has an activity verb, and (29b), which has an achievement verb. Ongoing action can be transpiring over a longer period, as the time expression in (29c) illustrates. (29) a. They're studying for a midterm right now. b. Her plane is landing right now. c. They're putting the plan into effect in the course of this semester. Punctual achievement verbs such as bang, bounce, hit, and kick take on an iterative meaning in the present progressive, as illustrated in (30). (30) a. That window shutter is banging against the wall. You'd better secure it. b. He's bouncing the tennis ball off the backboard. Additional Meanings In addition to expressing ongoing action, the present progressive can express a number of other meanings. As we have seen, one of these is a future event that is planned, as

annotation:The present progressive tense (also called present continuous) is used to talk about actions that are happening right now or around this time. It’s formed using am, is, are + a verb ending in ing. For example, we say, “She is eating lunch” or “They are studying for a test.” These sentences show that the actions are happening at the moment of speaking. Sometimes, the action can last over a longer period, for example, “He is working on a big project this month,” which means he may not be doing it right now, but it’s happening during this time. The present progressive can also describe actions that happen again and again, like “The baby is crying” or “The ball is bouncing,” showing repeated movement. Finally, this tense is often used to talk about plans that are already arranged. For instance, “I’m meeting my friend tomorrow” or “We’re going to the zoo on Saturday” show future events that are planned. So, the present progressive isn’t just for what’s happening now; it can also talk about ongoing, repeated, or future planned actions.