. John is in his car. He is in his way to work
He is driving to work
" This means he is driving now : “ at the time of speaking
This is the present continuous
The present continuous is used to talk about actions happening at the time of speaking
: Example
(Where is Mary? She is having a bath. (Not she has a bath
What are you doing at the moment in front of your screen? Don't you know? Well … you are reading this lesson. You are learning English
The present continuous can also be used when an action has started but hasn’t finished yet
: Example
. I am reading a book; it’s a nice book
(It means = I am not necessarily reading it; I started reading it but I haven’t finished it yet
The form of the present continuous tense
The verb to be (in the simple present) + verb + ing
Special verbs
There are verbs which are normally not used in the present continuous.
: Examples
be, believe, belong, hate, hear, like, love, mean, prefer, remain, realize, see, seem, smell, think, understand, want, wish
: It's not correct to say
He is wanting to buy a new car
: You must say
He wants to buy a new car