Present Continuous

• Study this example situation:

"Claire is in her car. She is on her way to the University. "
She is driving to University.
This means: she is driving now, at the same time of speaking.
The action is not finished.

 

I am doing something = I'm in the middle of doing it; I've started doing itand i haven't finished yet. Example:

- Let's go out now. Itsn't snowing anymore.

- Where is Ginevra? She's reading in her room.

The action is not necessarily happening at the same time of speaking. Example:

she is talking to a friend on the phone

"I am reading a really good book at the moment. Is about two dogs and a cat..."
The little girl is not reading the book at the same time of speaking. She means she has started it, but she has not finished it yet.
She is in the middle of reading it.

More examples:
- John wants to work in France, so he's learing French. (but perhaps he isn't learning Frenchat the time of speaking)
- My brother is building his own house. He hopes to finish it next spring.

You can use the present continuous with TODAY, THIS WEEL, THIS YEAR etc.
periods around now:
- She is working hard today!
- Yes, she has a lot to do. The company i work for isn't doing so well this year.

We use the present continuous when we talk about changes happening around now, especially with these verbs:
GET, CHANGE, BECOME, INCREASE, RISE, FALL, GROW, IMPROVE, BEGIN, START


- Is your English getting better?
- At first I didn't like my course, but I'm beginning to enjoy it now.