Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verbs › Present › At the Moment

Present: At the Moment vs. Routine

Express temporary activities

My name is Isabela Paras. I am a mother, a student and a nurse. I am married and have one child. Currently, I am studying to get my nursing certification. Also, I am taking classes online to improve my use of English. I am trying to get rid of simple grammar mistakes so that I can communicate with my co-workers more effectively. I am taking a grammar course and a speech course at the College of San Mateo.

At night, I work at Children's Hospital in Oakland. I am learning with a group of eight other people. I often get home very late. I am having difficulty balancing my work, study and home schedules. But I hope I can get through this difficult time. I know that I will need to have a good education to get a better job and have a more successful life.

Present Progressive vs. Present Nonprogressive

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE — AT THE MOMENT
The present progressive tense is used for current activities. That is, the action is ongoing or temporary, exists now, but may change in the future. It is not the usual activity.
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	COMP / ADJUNCT
N	PROG. VERB	NP / INF PP
I	am studying	to get my nursing certificate this year.
I	am taking	classes online this semester.
I	am trying	to improve my English this year.
I	am taking	a grammar course this semester.
I	am learning	with a group of eight other people currently. (PP)
I	am having	a little difficulty right now.
I	am feeling	a bit overwhelmed tonight.

PRESENT — ROUTING
The present nonprogressive tense is used for the description of character, appearance, or habits. The state is more permanent; the action is routine. It exists now, has existed in the past and will probably exist in the future.
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	COMP / ADJUNCT
N	VERB	NP / ADJ / PP / CLAUSE
I	is	Isabela. (NP)
I	am	a mother. (NP)
I	am	married. (Adj)
I	work	at Children's Hospital. (PP)
I	get	home late often. (NP)
I	hope	(that) I can get through this… (Clause)
I	know	(that) I will need to have a good education… (Clause)

Subject – the causer or doer of the action ; Predicate – the action; COMP – complement: elements required by an expression to complete its meaning.

Categories: N – noun / pronoun; NP – noun phrase; V – verb; VP – verb phrase (auxiliary + verb)

NP – A noun phrase has a noun and possbly an article or determiner, adjective, and other modifiers. See Word Functions.

Also see related pages: Present Progressive | Past Progressive | Present Perfect Progressive.

Auxiliary Verbs

Marking person and number

Auxiliary Verbs — person and number (singular/plural)

SINGULAR
Auxiliary verbs do not carry their own meaning as lexical verbs do. Instead, they mark tense, person, aspect, mood, and voice (active/passive). (Some verbs such as need, dare
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	PREDICATE
N / PRN	AUX	V
I (1st person)	am	running.
You (2nd person)	are	running.
Helen (3rd person)	is	running.

PLURAL
Auxiliary verbs combine with not to form negatives, invert with the subject to form questions, are used with too in tag questions, and are used for emphasis.
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	PREDICATE
N / PRN	AUX	V
We (1st person)	are	running.
You (all) (2nd person)	are	running.
Helen and Jill They (3rd per.)	are	running.

Also see Auxiliary Verbs and Dual Category Verbs.

Lexical verbs express an action or state (eat, run, sleep, live, fly, etc.)

Auxiliary verbs express tense, mood, person aspect, or number (is are, was, were, do, does, did, has, had, etc.)

Categories: N – noun / pronoun; NP – noun phrase; V – verb; VP – verb phrase (auxiliary + verb)

Present Adverbs (time expressions)

Specify the timing of an action or activity

Present Time Expressions — definite vs. indefinite timing

DEFINITE TIMING "HAPPENING AROUND NOW"
Adverbial expressions with definite timing are used when actions can be marked on a timeline (clock/calendar); they have endpoints/goals. Compare: I am walking to class today. (definite timing, it ends when I arrive at class) to I walk to class. (indefinite timing, "timeless", no endpoint, a routine).
WITH PROGRESSIVE VERBS	WITH PROGRESSIVE VERBS
I am walking to class now. *I walk to class now.	I am walking to class today. *I walk to class today.¹
NOW	THIS ...
now (just now, right now) currently (presently)	today / tonight (word origin – this day, this night)
at the moment (for now, for the time being, for now, at present)	this month (time not passed: morning, evening, week, semester, this spring, year, decade, century)
as we speak (expression: now)	these moments (time not passed: weeks, months, semesters, years)
still (with a negative verb: no longer) Used with progressive.	this Tuesday (June 20, June 20, 2020) (in the current week)

INDEFINITE TIMING "HAPPENING SOMETIME"
Adverbial expressions with indefinite timing are used when activities or states happen "sometime", not related to a timeline. The precise time is not important. The focus is on the activity or state. These adverbs express duration (a period of time) or repetition (the interval of occurrence).
BOTH PROGRESSIVE & NON	BOTH PROGRESSIVE & NON
I am walking to class temporarily. I walk to class during the week.	I am walking to class often. I walk to class often.
DURATION	REPETITION
temporarily(continuously, briefly, momentarily) [imperfective, ongoing] ⇒ Mostly progressive.	repeatedly(constantly, continuously, again and again, perpetually, eternally)⇒ Switch to "keep" with progressive.³
for a moment (ten minutes, a week, a month, for a while², a little while, a day, forever) ⇒ Often present perfect.	always (routinely, customarily, usually, in general, normally, often, sometimes, hardly ever, never)
during the week (month, year, etc.) ⇒ Mostly nonprogressive.	at night (noon, midnight, sunset) in spring (winter, summer, June, July)
from Monday to Tuesday(1 PM to 2 PM, morning to night) ⇒ Mostly nonprogressive.	on Mondays (Tuesday, Sundays, etc.) most days (nights, weekends, etc.)
while it is warm(a relative time: when, if, whenever, before, after) before lunch (after)	every / each / every other day (hour, day, night, week, month, year, May, spring)

¹ adverbs like today or this month include time that is past, present and future. With the present tense, we understand the time to be present, current, now. "I walk to class today," could also be understood as a scheduled activity. See Scheduled Events—Routine vs. Near Future.

² for a while (PP) – can be understood in two ways: (1) having some amount of duration, or (2) being very temporary

³ keep + verb+ing – Repetition can be expressed by using the "keep" (I keep walking. He kept smiling.) The progressive with "repeatedly" (*I am walking to class repeatedly. )sounds awkward.

Specific adverbial pages: Frequency Adverbs| Preps for Time—In v. On v. At | During v. In | For-Since

Present Progressive

Word Order

AUXILIARY VERB	SUBJECT	AUX + VERB-ING	REST OF SENTENCE	CLAUSE
STATEMENT
	I	am working	as a nurse.
	Isabela	is working	as a nurse.
	Isabela and her friend	are studying	together.
QUESTION
Am	I	working	tonight?
Is	Isabela	working	tonight?
Are	Isabela and her friend	studying	tonight?
TAG QUESTION¹				TAG AUXILIARY
	I	am working	tonight,	aren't I?
	Isabela	is working	tonight,	isn't she?
	Isabela and her friend	are studying	tonight.	aren't they?
NEGATIVE
	I	am not working	tonight.
	Isabela	isn't working	tonight.
	Isabela and her friend	aren't studying	together.
EMPHASIS IN SPEECH		EMPHSIZED AUXILIARY
No,	I	am working	with her.
No,	Isabela	is working	tonight.
No,	Isabela and her friend	are studying	together.

¹A tag question can also occur with a negative main sentence and a positive final question: They aren't working tonight, are they? See And so / too.

²Use emphasis in speech when contradicting or stating that the opposite is true: "I think Isabela isn't working tonight." "No, she is working tonight."

Sentence Diagrams of Present Progressive

Related page: 3rd Person Agreement.

Common Mistakes

Errors & Solutions

Error and Solution

ERROR
*I apply to attend college this semester.
*Just for now, I take the bus to work. (Just for now is temporary.)
*I study English in the College of San Mateo. (The activity is temporary.)
*Hurry up! I wait for you. (The activity is temporary.)

SOLUTION
I am applying to attend college this semester. (Use a progressive verb tense with this semester – a temporary time-frame.)
Just for now, I am taking the bus to work. (Use a progressive verb tense with just for now – a temporary time-frame.)
I am studying English in the College of San Mateo. (Use a progressive verb tense with a temporary time-frame.)
Hurry up! I am waiting for you. (Use a progressive verb tense with a temporary time-frame.)

*Yellow highlighting indicates example of incorrect usage.

▼ Hide Grammar Notes

Grammar Notes (Advanced)

Traditional and Linguistic Description

TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION
For some language learners, it is helpful to see the parts of a sentence. The REED-KELLOGG system diagrams a sentence on a horizontal line. Subject: article: the, noun: wind \| Predicate: verb: is \ adjective: strong

LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION
The tree diagram (linguistics) separates the parts of a sentence with angled /\ brackets. Clause; Subject-Predicate; NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; auxiliary. – gerund-participle; pronoun
TWO POSSIBLE DIAGRAMS

Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.

Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.

Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).

Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: elements required by an expression to complete its meaning (DO – direct object; IO – indirect object); Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.

Works Cited

Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
O'Brien, Elizabeth. "Diagramming Sentences Exercises: Chapter 1." English Grammar Revolution. 2016. english-grammar-revolution.com/english-grammar-exercise.html. Accessed on 10 Oct. 2016.
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
"Sentence diagram." Wikipedia. 28 Sep. 2016. Accessed on 10 Oct. 2016.

Practice 1

An Introduction

Present or present progressive?

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.

1–8.

My name George. I from Greece. I in the U. S. to improve my English. I at a community college this semester. For now, I three classes. I to add one more class. Currently, in my English class, we how to "blog" on the Internet. At the same time, I my typing skills.

My name George. I from Greece. I in the U. S. to improve my English. I at a community college this semester. I three classes. I to add one more class. Currently, in my English class, we how to "blog" on the Internet. At the same time, I my typing skills.

Practice 2

My Morning Routine

Temporarily (at the moment) or permanently?

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or the "Check 9-15" button.

— What are you doing in school?

— I several subjects.

Feedback 9

10.

— Do you like your classes?

— Yes, I most of them!"

Feedback 10

11.

— How about you? What now?"

Feedback 11

12.

— Are you from around here? Where ?"

— In Athens, Greece. (For questions about permanent residence, the response usually states the city and country.)

Feedback 12

13.

Where now?

— In San Mateo on Main Street (For questions about temporary residence, the response usually states the area and/or the street.)

Feedback 13

14.

— I have to go now. Oh look. .

— Yes, I see.

Feedback 14

15.

I'm glad I my umbrella today. Goodbye!

Feedback 15