Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Present time | 601

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The present progressive is also used to refer to things which are taking place or

which are true around the moment of speaking, though they may be only

temporary:

They 

are travelling through Italy at the moment.

She

’s having a bad time right now.

(her life is difficult at the moment)

Repeated events in temporary contexts

340b

The present progressive is also used to describe actions which are repeated or

regular, but are either temporary or may be judged to be temporary:

She

’s seeing him quite a bit at the moment.

(she’s meeting him regularly)

Is she still swimming three times a week?

(implies she has recently started swimming three times a week; compare: ‘Does

she still swim three times a week?’, which implies she has always swum three

times a week)

The present progressive is also used to describe regular actions in relation to a

particular time or a specified event, especially where those events interrupt things

already in progress (

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348a to compare the similar use of the past progressive

):

I

’m always having a shower when the newspaper comes. 

(I have always already started my shower when the paper arrives; compare ‘I

always have a shower after a swim’, where having the shower follows on from

swimming.)

He won’t answer the phone when he

’s working at the computer.

(… when his work at the computer is already in progress)