Remember to be aware of which tense you are writing in, so that you don’t mix your tenses up in a confusing manner.

The verb in the continuous tense always ends in “ing”, e.g. jump + ing = jumping; drive + in = driving; run + ing = running.

The past continuous tense tells us that activities lasted for some time in the past. Verbs in the past continuous tense consist of “was” or “were” + verb + ing. For example:

Two weeks ago, Kate was doing her homework and her baby sisters were playing, when suddenly there was a flash of lightening and the lights went out. (Kate was doing her homework over a period of time, and her sisters were playing over a period of time, shown by using the past continuous tense. This is in contrast to the lightening and the electricity cut, which were sudden – here the past simple tense is used.)

The present continuous tense tells us about activities that are happening right now. Verbs in the present continuous tense consist of “am” or “are” or “is” + verb + ing. For example:

These days, I am thinking a lot about what subjects to take next year. I am also studying hard for exams. My friend, Joe, is being quite lazy, though. When we are studying together, I can see he isn’t concentrating.

The future continuous tense tells us about activities that will be taking place for a period of time in the future. Verbs in the future continuous tense consist of “will be” or “shall be” + verb + ing. For example: Next soccer season, I’m sure I will be playing for the first team. What team will you be trying out for? Perhaps we shall be playing in the same team!