Present progressive. Maria and her mother are making sandwiches. Maria is putting lettuce on the sandwiches. Her mother is cutting an avocado. Notice these verbs: are making, is putting, is cutting. This is the present progressive, and we use it to tell what is happening now. Form the present progressive with BE and ing. So that means that we use a form of the BE verb plus another verb with an ing ending to form the present progressive. In these two sentences, they are making sandwiches, she is cutting an avocado, the BE verb is are and is. It's followed by another verb plus ing, here, making and cutting. This is the present progressive. Here are some examples. He is ordering food. She is shopping. They are shaking hands. All of these things are happening now. You can see in all of these sentences, we have a BE verb and another verb with an ing ending. There are some spelling rules. For many verbs, just add ing, like ordering. For some verbs, we need to double the consonant and add ing, like shopping. For still other verbs, we need to drop an E and add ing, like shaking. Let's take a closer look. For many verbs, just add ing, play, playing, climb, climbing, drink, drinking, and think, thinking. They are playing in the snow. They are climbing a wall. She is drinking coffee and thinking. All of these things are happening right now. For verbs that end in a consonant-vowel-consonant, we double the consonant and add ing. Plan, that's lan ending, that's consonant-vowel-consonant, plan becomes planning, put becomes putting, and sit becomes sitting. They are planning their day. She is putting on makeup. They are sitting on a bench. For verbs that end in consonant and E, we drop the E and add ing. Take becomes taking, give becomes giving, and ride becomes riding. The plane is taking off. He is giving a presentation. They are riding horses. Present progressive tells us what is happening now. Brian is playing with his toys. He is thinking about trains. He is making train sounds and having fun. Let's look at a timeline. You are learning English right now. This is now on the timeline. Let's change it. You are learning English this week. Now, it's a little longer. You are learning English this month. You are learning English this year. This word, this, shows us that it is still now, so I can still use the present progressive. Remember, now can be a long time. Here is an example. John and Anne are traveling this month. They are visiting Budapest this week. They're staying at a nice hotel. Right now, they are sightseeing and it is raining. All of these sentences are in present progressive, and all of these sentences tell us what is happening now. But now in the first sentence is this month, and now in the second sentence is this week, and now at the end is right now, right this moment. They're all about now. There are some verbs that don't work in the present progressive. Some of these are need, want, like, know, and understand. I am needing a break now. We are understanding now. No, these are incorrect. We don't put these verbs in the present progressive. I need a break now, we understand now, are correct. Let's see what you understand. What is wrong in this sentence? She cooking on a grill. It sounds almost right, but there is no BE verb. We need is to make it correct. She is cooking on a grill. Present progressive always has BE. What is wrong here? They are watch TV together. There is no ing. Again, present progressive needs BE and a verb with ing. Present progressive always has a verb with ing. In this lesson, you learned that the present progressive tells about things that are happening now. Brian is playing with his toys. They are traveling this month. This is a word that tells you it's in the present progressive. There are some spelling changes. We have to drop the e in give to get giving and double the consonant in sit to get sitting. He is giving a presentation. They are sitting and listening. Remember, there is always a BE verb in the present progressive and there is always a verb with ing.
