Collins Cobuild

Unit 60
The continuous tenses
Main points
Continuous  tenses  describe  actions  which  continue  to  happen
before and after a particular time.
Continuous tenses can also indicate duration and change.
1
 You  use  a  continuous  tense  to  indicate  that  an  action  continues  to
happen before and after a particular time, without stopping. You use
the  present  continuous  for  actions  which  continue  to  happen  before
and after the moment of speaking.
I’m looking at the photos my brother sent me.
They’re having a meeting.
2
When you are talking about two actions in the present tense, you use
the present continuous for an action that continues to happen before
and after another action that interrupts it. You use the present simple
for the other action.
The phone always rings when I’m having a bath.
Friends always talk to me when I’m trying to study.
3
When you are talking about the past, you use the past continuous for
actions that continued to happen before and after another action, or
before and after a particular time. This is often called the ‘interrupted

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past’. You use the past simple for the other action.
He was watching television when the doorbell rang.
It was 6 o’clock. The train was nearing London.
WARNING: If two things happened one after another, you use two
verbs in the past simple tense.
As soon as he saw me, he waved.
4
You can use continuous forms with modals in all their usual meanings.
See Units
79
to
91
for more information on modals.
What could he be thinking of?
They might be telling lies.
5
 You  use  continuous  tenses  to  express  duration,  when  you  want  to
emphasize  how  long  something  has  been  happening  or  will  happen
for.
We had been living in Athens for five years.
They’ll be staying with us for a couple of weeks.
He has been building up the business all his life.
By 1992, he will have been working for ten years.
Note that you do not have to use continuous tenses for duration.
We had lived in Africa for five years.
He worked for us for ten years.
6
 You  use  continuous  tenses  to  describe  a  state  or  situation  that  is
temporary.
I’m living in London at the moment.
He’ll be working nights next week.
She’s spending the summer in Europe.

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7
 You  use  continuous  tenses  to  show  that  something  is  changing,
developing, or progressing.
Her English was improving.
The children are growing up quickly.
The video industry has been developing rapidly.
8
As a general rule, verbs which refer to actions that require a deliberate
effort can be used in continuous tenses, verbs which refer to actions
that  do  not  require  a  deliberate  effort  are  not  used  in  continuous
tenses.
I think it’s going to rain. (‘think’ = ‘believe’. Believing does not
require deliberate effort)
Please be quiet. I’m thinking. (‘think’ = ‘try to solve a problem’.
Trying to solve a problem does require deliberate effort)
However, many verbs are not normally used in the continuous tenses.
These  include  verbs  that  refer  to  thinking,  liking  and  disliking,
appearance, possession, and perception.
See Unit
62
for lists of these verbs.

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