present progressive

A verb construction (made up of a present form of the verb "to be" plus a present participle) that conveys a sense of ongoing action at the present time. See also:

• Aspect
• Progressive
• What Is the Difference Between the Present Progressive and Present Participle?
• Past Progressive
• Future Progressive

Examples and Observations:

• "I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some."
  (Herbert Rappaport)



• "I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."
  (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)



• "The key to failure is trying to please everybody."
  (Bill Cosby)



• Uses of the present progressive:
  • to refer to events that are in progress at the time of speaking or writing
  • to refer to things that are taking place or that are true around the moment of speaking or writing
  • to describe actions that are repeated or regular but are either temporary or may be judged to be temporary
  • to describe regular actions in relation to a particular time or a specified event, especially when those events interrupt something already in progress
  • to refer to gradual processes of change
  • with adverbs of indefinite frequency (such as always, constantly, continually, forever) to describe events that are regular but unplanned and often undesired
  (adapted from R. Carter and M. McCarthy, Cambridge Grammar of English, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006)



• "The present progressive tense is especially difficult for those whose native language does not use this tense. . . .

  I am searching for an error in the document.
  [The search is occurring now and may continue.]

  In contrast, the simple present tense more often relates to habitual actions:

  I search for errors in my documents.
  [I regularly search for errors, but I am not necessarily searching now.]"

  (Gerald J. Alred et al., The Business Writer's Handbook, Macmillan, 2006)