PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Present Continuous Tense  is used to show that a work is being done. It still continues and is being done. Time of the action is not specified. It shows that the action is not complete or accomplished yet.

For Example :

Alice is painting a picture.

This sentence shows that the subject Alice is doing a work in the present time. This work is not accomplished and is continuing.

The Present Continuous Tense is used :

---- for an action that is in progress at the time of speaking.  For Example:

 She is cooking food. 

Boys are playing football.

They are watching T.V.

----- for an action that is in progress and will continue in future. It may not be going on at the time of speaking. 

For Example:

He is learning English.

My friend is writing a book.

---It is used to describe an action that is planned to take place in the near future.

 For Example : 

The guests are coming tomorrow.

He is not taking his examination this year.

----- to express disapproval of a persistent habit or something done again and again. Adverbs such as always, constantly, repeatedly etc. are used. 

For Example:

She is repeatedly making the same mistakes.

He is always doing one mischief or the other. 

They are constantly changing their opinion.

NOTE : Verbs of perception and some other verbs are not generally used in the Present Continuous Tense.

 For Example: 

See, smell, hear, taste T, know, understand, like, hate, want, wish etc.

In this tense helping verbs 'is, am are' are used and  first form of verb with 'ing' is used.

He is drinking water. 

I am painting a picture. 

You are taking your meals.

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES  

With First person singular, ‘am’ along with first form of verb with ‘ing’ is used.

For Example :

I am writing a letter.

With First person plural,second person singular and plural and third person plural ‘are’ is used with first form of verb and 'ing' .

We are playing a match. 

You are making a noise. 

They are singing a song.

With third person singular ‘is’ is used with first form of verb and ing.

For example :

He is drinking water.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

‘Is, Am or Are’ + Not + First form of verb + ing is used.

For Example : 

Boys are not playing a football match.

She is not reading a book.

I am not going to the office today.

We are not making a noise.

You are not flying kites.

 

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

 ‘Is, Am or Are’ is used before subject. First form of verb + 'ing' is used.

Sign of interrogation is used at the end of the sentence.

For Example :

Are the boys  playing a football match?

Are the girls not singing a song ?

Here are some examples of Interrogative sentences  starting with 'Wh'.

1. What are you doing?

2. When are you going to their house?

3. Which book are you reading?

4. Why are the children making a noise?

5. How are you feeling now?

6. Where are the visitors coming from ?

7. How much money is he demanding?

8. Whom are you expecting at the dinner?

9. Why are not you going to the bed now?

10. For whom are you purchasing a gift?

11. Whom do you expect in the meeting today?

EXERCISE NO   1

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense.

1. A cool wind ................ (blow) at this time.

2. Farmers .............. (sow) seeds  in their fields.

3. The child ....................(cut) teeth.

4. Boys ...................(bathe) in the river.

5. A policeman ................(chase) the thief.
 

EXERCISE NO   2

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense.

1. She ......................(not waste) her time in gossips.

2. We...................(not plan) to go to see a picture.

3. The teacher ............. (not teach)  us today.

4. The students ............... (not take) their examination.

5. Cows .............. (not graze) grass in the meadows.

EXERCISE NO  3

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

 1. ...... the boys ................... (not go) to their homes today?

2. ........ she ................... (play) on guitar?

3. ......... the birds ......... (not chirp)  in trees?

4. ............ your brother............( not live) with you?

5. ........... the rabbits ...........(hide) in their burrows ?

EXERCISE NO  4

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

1. Whom ....... you............ (call) ?

2. When ........... the guests........... (come)?

3. Why ......... the child ........(weep) so bitterly?

4. Where ......... they ...........(go) at this time?

5. Why .......... your sister not ........(participate) in the competition?

EXERCISE NO  5

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

I ............ (go) out for a walk on the bank of the river. I see cool water......... (flow) in the river. A cool wind..............(blow) all around. Birds ........... (chirp) in the trees. Many people ............. (walk) on the grass. I .......... (feel) very happy to see all this. Many friends .................(join) me there.  We all .............. (take) exercise. It .............. (look) very pleasant.  Some of my friends ........... (sit) on the grass and ..........(gossip).  We all ........... (enjoy) ourselves very much.

EXERCISE NO  6

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

It ............ (get) dark now. The sun ...........(set) in the west. People .......... (move) towards their homes. Most of them ............. (feel) tired. They .......... (wear) very good clothes but those ........... (show)  dust particles on them now. Though they............(feel) very happy yet they ............ (find) it very difficult to walk. They .........(get) late so they are ...............(rush) to their homes. They ...........(carry) a lot of sweets with them. Their children............(feel) very happy to witness all this. 
  

EXERCISE NO  7

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense.

 I ..........(go) to my grandmother's house today. My brother and sister too .........(accompany) me. We ............(go) by train. We all .......... (go) there to spend our vacation. We ...........(expect) our cousins also to reach there. All the members  in my grandmother's house..............(wait) for us eagerly. We all ........(feel) excited to be with our cousins soon. We.........(feel) happy because we are not required to do our home work there. We ............(go) to have a very good time there.    

(ANSWERS)

EXERCISE NO   1

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

1. A cool wind  is blowing at this time.

2. Farmers are sowing seeds  in their fields.

3. The child is cutting his teeth.

4. Boys are bathing in the river.

5. A policeman is chasing  the thief.

EXERCISE NO   2

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

1. She is not wasting her time in gossips.

2. We are not planning to go to see a picture.

3. The teacher  is not teaching us today.

4. The students are not taking their examination.

5. Cows are not grazing grass in the meadows.

EXERCISE NO  3

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

 1. Are the boys not going to their homes today?

2. Is she playing on guitar?

3. Are the birds not chirping  in trees?

4. Is your brother not living with you?

5. Are the rabbits hiding in their burrows ?

EXERCISE NO  4

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

1. Whom are you calling ?

2. When are the guests coming ?

3. Why is the child weeping so bitterly?

4. Where are they going at this time?

5. Why is your sister not participating in the competition?

EXERCISE NO  5

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

I  am going out for a walk on the bank of the river. I see cool water is flowing in the river. A cool wind is blowing all around. Birds are chirping in the trees. Many people are walking  on the grass. I  am feeling very happy to see all this. Many friends are joining me there.  We all are taking exercise. It is looking very pleasant.  Some of my friends are sitting on the grass and are gossiping.  We all are enjoying ourselves very much.

EXERCISE NO  6

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense

It is getting dark now. The sun is setting in the west. People are moving towards their homes. Most of them are feeling tired. They are wearing very good clothes but those are showing  dust particles on them  now. Though they are feeling very happy yet they are finding it very difficult to walk. They are getting late so they are rushing to their homes. They are carrying a lot of sweets with them. Their children are feeling very happy to witness all this. 
  

EXERCISE NO  7

Fill in the blanks using appropriate form of given verb in Present Continuous Tense.

 I am going to my grandmother's house today. My brother and sister too are accompanying me. We are going by train. We all are going there to spend our vacation. We are expecting our cousins also to reach there. All the members  in my grandmother's house are waiting for us eagerly. We all are feeling excited to be with our cousins soon. We are feeling happy because we are not required to do our home work there. We are going to have a very good time there.    

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Sentence Formation in English - Subject, Predicate - Phrase & Clause Tenses

I owe everything of mine, if there is any, to the Almighty, my teachers and my parents. My humble respects to them. 

 Sentence -- Phrase & Clause

Human beings have a tendency to share their feelings, emotions and experiences with others. One needs a suitable medium to convey all this to others. Language is the best suited medium used for this. But the language differs from place to place & person to person. Language is a broader term.

However a sentence is used to convey the message.

Language is  the most effective system for communication created by human beings. It records and describes every activity performed by them, establishing  very succinctly the truth of the adage"mind over matter". When we use language we are constantly transforming matter into words through the help  of sounds. 

If gone by dictionary meaning, a sentence is a combination of words arranged in a systematic and meaningful way.

A group of jumbled words without any meaning does not form a sentence.

EXERCISE FOR PRACTICE

Arrange the following jumbled words to form a meaningful sentence.

1. Time in nine stitch a saves.
2. Heavy  a water of there in the river was flow.
3. Raining clouds and started it thundered.
4. Beauty of thing for a  joy is a.
5. Players winning among the principal prizes distributed the.


ANSWERS:

1. A stitch in time saves nine.
2. There was a heavy flow of water in the river.
3. Clouds thundered and it started raining.
4. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.
5. The principal distributed prizes among the winning students.

A sentence basically comprises of three main parts namely Subject, Verb & Object. The latter two collectively form predicate.

Instead of going after nomenclature one should try to understand the basics or facts. It is therefore very essential to learn the formation of a sentence. 

For formation of a sentence we make use of TENSES.

Tenses denote time when a particular work is being accomplished. 

The term 'Tense' refers to the form of a verb which in turn shows the time at which an action happened. So the tense shows :

1. time of the action 

2. state expressed by verb. 

In other words tense tells about the verb used in the sentence.

For example :

1. She sings a song. 

2. She sang a song.

 3. She will sing a song. 

The verbs sings, sang and will sing in the above sentences 1,2,and 3 refer to Present, Past and Future time respectively. 

Time has three divisions first now going on, second already happened and third going to happen in the time to come. 

Tense and Time are not same thing. Tense shows state of a verb in a sentence whereas time refers to division of time of the action shown by the verb i.e. present,past and future.

In many cases the state of time and tense may not be the same.

For example : 

1. He is about to go.

Tense of the verb is present but action will take place in future. 

2. His marriage falls on next Monday. 

Tense of verb is present but action will be in time to come.

3. He does not pay attention to his work. 

Tense is present but time includes past as well as present.  

So time and tense are expressed in different terms.

Tense is used to understand ----

the correspondence  between the form of verb and the concept of time (present,past or future).

Time and tense are not the same thing. Time is a universal concept whereas tense is related only to the verb.

Tenses are of following types.

Before learning about  Tenses it is necessary to know that

In a sentence there is a person or a thing named and something about that is described.  Thus a sentence comprises of two  parts i.e name of a person or a thing and description of that.

The word  about  whom or which something is said in the sentence is called Subject  and the remaining part of the sentence which describes all  about the subject is called Predicate.

For Example

Sentence                                        Subject                       Predicate

Girls are singing a song.   

             Girls   .....Subject               are singing a song....Predicate

Bill did not learn his lesson.   

        Bill ..... Subject                      did not learn his lesson.
                    .....Predicate

They will not help us. 
They......Subject               will not help us....... Predicate

She painted a beautiful picture.   

  She  ....... Subject        painted a beautiful picture........ Predicate.



Generally Subject is used before Predicate in a sentence but occasionally it comes after Predicate.



For example : 

 Down went the house like a pack of cards.


In fact this sentence is :

The house went down like a pack of cards.

But to put more emphasis formation of the sentence has been changed.

 In this sentence, 'the house' is Subject and 'went down like a pack of cards' is Predicate.

In Imperative sentences,  Subject is understood and is omitted in the sentence.  In sentences like

1. Go away at once.
2. Thank you.

Subject has not been used and it is understood or implied. In sentence (1)  Subject is 'you' and in (2) it is 'I'.

Exercise No.1

Identify  Subject and Predicate in the following sentences.

1. Birds are chirping in the trees.

2. Cattle are grazing in the fields.

3. My mother cooks food for me.

4. She carried a beautiful child in her lap.

5. They invited us to dinner last night.

Exercise No.2

Identify  Subject and Predicate in the following sentences.

1. His father is running a factory.

2. She resembles her mother.

3. He did not look after his parents.

4. Elephants eat pieces of sugarcane.

5. Boys are playing cricket.

Exercise No. 3

Match Subject listed in Table A with appropriate Predicate in Table B

Table A                                                           

1. Cattle                                                       

2. Birds                                                       

3. Travellers                                               

4. They                                                       

5. She                                                         

Table B       

A. rested for sometime after a long journey

B. were grazing grass in fields.

C.  was painting a beautiful picture.

D. were chirping in trees.

E. did not recognise her.

Exercise No. 4

Identify and give  Subject implied in the following Imperative sentences :

1. Distribute sweets among children.

2. Make haste to reach in time.

3. Follow the instructions strictly.

4. Good bye, friends.

5. Wish you, all success in life.

Exercise No. 5

Supply a suitable Subject to each Predicate in the following sentences :

1. ................. moves around the sun.

2. ............. was begging alms.

3. ................say he is a cheat.

4. ............... was ploughing the field.

5. ...............presided over the meeting.

Exercise No. 6

Supply a suitable Predicate to each subject in the following sentences :

1.  The boys ..........

2. The sun ..............

3. The Principal ..........

4. The judge ............

5. Everybody .............

SENTENCE , PHRASE  &  CLAUSE

A group of words that makes a complete sense or meaning is called a Sentence. It comprises of two parts, Subject and Predicate.

Sugar tastes sweet.     

Sugar -- Subject            

tastes sweet. -- Predicate   

The rose is a lovely flower.

 The rose -- Subject         
 is a lovely flower....... Predicate


A group of words that makes sense but not a complete sense

 is called a Phrase.

For example -

The sun rises in the east.

 In this sentence words 'in the east' give some meaning but do not form a complete meaning or sense. So 'in the east' is a phrase.

People from far and wide came to see the fair.

In this sentence words 'from far and wide' give some meaning but do not form a complete meaning or sense.

 So 'from far and wide' is a phrase.

A group of words which forms a part of larger sentence

and contains a Subject and Predicate and forms a meaning 

or sense is called a clause.

For example : 

She wears ornaments which are made of gold.

In this sentence 'She' is subject and 'wears ornaments' is Predicate.
But this sentence containsa second group of words 'which are made of gold.' 

This part contains

a Subject 'which'  and 

a Predicate 'are made of gold.' 

Such a group of words in a larger sentence which forms a meaning in itself and has its own Subject and Predicate   but cannot  be used as independent sentence is called a  Clause.

Exercise No.7

Identify  Phrase  in the following sentences.

1. Birds fly in the sky.    

2. She was sitting on a chair.

3. He is a very good singer.

4. He played a funny part.

5. She wears a ring of gold.

Exercise No.8

Identify  Clause  in the following sentences.

1. We met a boy who was hungry.

2. People who are fair in their dealings are always trusted.

3. She believes that he is not a wise man.

4. It started raining when I reached there.

5. Those who work hard are sure to rise.

(ANSWERS)

Exercise No.1

SUBJECT                          PREDICATE

1. Birds                                      are chirping in the trees.

2. Cattle                                     are grazing in the fields.

3. My mother                             cooks food for me.

4. She                                         carried a beautiful child in her lap.

5. They                                       invited us to dinner last night.

Exercise No.2

SUBJECT                            PREDICATE

1. His father                                  is running a factory.

2. She                                            resembles her mother.

3. He                                             did not look after his parents.

4. Elephants                                  eat pieces of sugarcane.

5. Boys                                          are playing cricket.

Exercise No. 3

Table A                      Table B

1. Cattle                           B. were grazing grass in fields.                           

2. Birds                            D. were chirping in trees.                           

3. Travellers                    A. rested for sometime after a long journey.     
                        
4. They                           E. did not recognise her.     
                     
5. She                             C. was painting a beautiful picture.
                                       

Exercise No. 4

1. Distribute sweets among children.         (You)

2. Make haste to reach in time.                  (You)    

3. Follow the instructions strictly.              (You)

4. Good bye, friends.                                  (I )...bid

5. Wish you, all success in life.                  (I)

Exercise No. 5

1. ................. moves around the sun.        (The earth)

2. ............. was begging alms.                   (The beggar)

3. ................say he is a cheat.                    (People)

4. ............... was ploughing the field.         (The farmer)

5. ...............presided over the meeting.      (The chairman)

Exercise No. 6

1.  The boys ..........       were playing cricket.

2. The sun ..............        is stationary.

3. The Principal ..........  fined the student.

4. The judge ............     announced his judgement.

5. Everybody .............    knows him.

Exercise No.7

  Phrase  in the following sentences (Underlined and in italics).

1. Birds fly    in the sky.    

2. She was     sitting on a chair.

3. He is      a very good singer.

4. He played         a funny part.

5. She   wears      a ring of gold.

Exercise No.8

Clause  in the following sentences (Underlined and in italics)

1. We met a boy who was hungry.

2. People who are fair in their dealings are always trusted.

3. She believes that he is not a wise man.

4. It started raining when I reached there.

5. Those who work hard are sure to rise.

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