A. Study this example situation:
Ann is
in her car. She is on her way to work.
She is
driving to work.
This
means: she is driving now, at the time of speaking. The action is not finished.
Am/is/are ~ing is the present continuous:
I am(=
I'm) driving
he/she/it is(he's etc.) working
we/you/they are(we're etc.) doing etc.
B. I
am doing something = I'm in the middle of doing something; I've started doing
it and I haven't finished yet.
Often
the action is happening at the time of speaking:
* Please
don't make so much noise. I'm working. (not 'I work')
*
'Where's Margaret?' 'She's having a bath.' (not 'she has a bath')
* Let's
go out now. It isn't raining any more. (not 'it doesn't rain')
* (at a
party) Hello, Jane. Are you enjoying the party? (not 'do you enjoy')
* I'm
tired. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight!
But the
action is not necessarily happening at the time of speaking. For example:
Tom and
Ann are talking in a cafe. Tom says:
TOM: I'm
reading an interesting book at the moment. IT lend it to you when I've finished
it.
Tom is
not reading the book at the time of speaking. He means that he has started it
but not finished it yet. He is in the middle of reading it.
Some
more examples:
*
Catherine wants to work in Italy, so she is learning Italian. (but perhaps she
isn't learning Italian exactly at the time of speaking)
* Some
friends of mine are building their own house. They hope it will be finished
before next summer.
C. We
use the present continuous when we talk about things happening in a period
around now (for example, today/this week/this evening etc.):
*
'You're working hard today.' 'Yes, I
have a lot to do.' (not 'you work hard today')
* 'Is
Susan working this week?' 'No, she's on
holiday.'
We use
the present continuous when we talk about changes happening around now:
* The
population of the world is rising very fast. (not 'rises')
* Is
your English getting better? (not 'does your English get better')
