Level One
Lesson 17
present continuous tense - negative
To make a verb in the present continuous tense negative, add the word “not.”
- Something is not happening right now: I am not listening to the radio.
- Something is not happening in your life. She isn’t taking care of herself.
- Something is not happening later in the future: They aren’t going tomorrow.
After you complete this lesson, take this quiz: Quiz #17 – the present continuous tense – negative
present continuous tense – negative
17a. making the negative ✍🏾
S + (be) + not + _____ing
singular
I am not watching TV.
You are not watching TV.
He is not watching TV.
She is not watching TV.
It is not watching TV.
plural
We are not watching TV.
You are not watching TV.
They are not watching TV.
Contractions can be made two ways:
You’re not watching TV. (S + V ) + not + main verb
You aren’t watching TV. S + (V + not) + main verb.
17a. Examples
- They are not watching TV.
- They are playing outside.
- They’re not watching TV.
- They aren’t watching TV.
- She is not working today.
- She isn’t working today.
- She’s training for a fight.
17b. not happening now
When an activity is not happening now, the present continuous tense is used in the negative.
- I am not riding my bike right now. (I + am + not + ride + ing)
- You are not studying Spanish. (You + are + not + study + ing)
- She is not playing at the park. (She + is + not + play + ing)
- They are not shopping. (They + are + not + shop + ing)
Notice that if a word ends in one vowel before one consonant, you double the consonant letter when spelling: shop + p + ing = shopping
17b. Examples ✍🏾
- She is not showing her face.
- She and her friends are not sitting inside a classroom.
- The sun is not shining. It’s starting to get dark.
- I am not using cash to pay for my purchase. Instead, I’m using a credit card.
17c. not happening in your life
The present continuous tense is used for activity that is not happening in your life at present. This is used for work, school, living arrangements, interests, hobbies, etc.
- I am not working for a large corporation. I’m working for a school district.
- The students I work with are not planning to go to college this fall. They might go the following year.
These things are not happening at the present time.
17c. Examples ✍🏾
- I’m not using a dryer for my clothes anymore.
- This way, I’m not wasting energy.
- She’s not living in a place that has machines for drying clothes.
- Instead, she hangs her clothes on a clothesline. (This sentence is in the present tense.)
17d. not happening in the future
The present continuous tense is used for activity that is not happening in the future, sooner or later.
- I’m not leaving for Chicago until next week.
- The store is not having a big sale this weekend.
- The car that Jeremy wants is not going on sale any time in the future.
17d. Examples ✍🏾
- A: When are you going on your trip?
- B: We’re not leaving until next week.
- He’s not working tomorrow. Instead, he can just relax.
Learn to form questions in the present continuous tense in Lesson Eighteen.