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                          Present Continuous Tense

We have discussed about where we can use this tense in our earlier lessons  Let us examine the following sentences written in the present continuous tense and see if we can learnt a bit more about this tense.

• It is raining.
• Look Sutista is trying to pull Debilina's hair.
• I am not looking. My eyes are closed tight.

In the above mentioned sentences we have used the present continuous tense to convey the meaning that the action is happening at this present moment. It may not last. It is true now. I don't think it will remain true in the long term. It is raining. ( it is true now but it may stop raining any moment from now.) In the second sentence: Sutista is pulling Debolina's hair. ( It is true at this moment because I can see it but Sutista may stop pulling Debolina's hair any moment from now.) In the third sentence I say that I AM NOT LOOKING. It is true because my eyes are closed tight. So we are using the present continuous tense in conditions or situations which we see as temporary or short term.

• I am looking for a suitable job.
• Apratim is thinking about leaving the present job.
• They are considering making an appeal against the judgement.
• Is Shramana getting enough sleep/

In the above sentences the present continuous tense has been used to describe the present situation which is temporary. When we ask=Is Shramana getting enough sleep?, what we mean to say is that we are worried about her health and we assume or guess that she is not getting enough sleep. No action is taking place. Yet we are using the present continuous tense. 

Sometimes we also use present continuous tense to indicate a future action. Something is going to happen in near future or in future. This is either our assumption or we are certain or sure about it.

• I am meeting Pritha at 6 this evening. ( I have made a prior appointment with her. So the meeting is definitely going to take place. )
• They aren't arriving until Sunday.( Againg we are sure about it because we have definite information about their date of arrival. )
• We are going to stay at Hotel Sikkim Aurora from 3rd to 6th Dec, 2015. ( The reservation has been made in advance by Ranjit Guha.) ( This is August and the action is going to take place in December which is a long time distance away but we are sure that this is happening. We are certain about that. )
• Isn't Sukanya and Apratim coming to dinner tonight? ( We are not sure. So we are asking this question to be sure. Once we are sure about their coming we can make the necessary arrangement. )

So we can see that we can use different tenses in a number of ways. It gives us a lot of flexibility.  We can use the present continuous tense instead of simple future tense also.  Let us take the following example-

• Debnath will go to Kolkata tomorrow. ( We can use the following sentence to mean the same thing or to give the following impression- Debnath is going to Kolkatta tomorrow.

*********************************Happy learning friends.

spk-25/8/15