Using the present continuous for the future

Using the present continuous for the future

The future continuous tense is the present continuous tense recycled. It is often used to ask about and discuss future arrangements or plans with just the addition of a future time, but you only use it when these arrangements are certain.

For example:

Q) What are you doing next week?" A) "I'm working."

Q) What's he doing tomorrow?" A) "He's playing tennis."

The present continuous tense is also used to talk about and make future appointments and arrangements using the words go or come....

For example:

Q) When are you coming to see me?" A) "Next week."

Q) What are you doing tomorrow?" A) "I'm going to the dentist."

...and using verbs of arrival and departure.

"We're arriving in London at 2.30."

"The train leaving from platform one is the 2.45 to Edinburgh."

Vocabulary 2

Doctrinaire (noun)

Pronunciation: [däk′tri ner′]

Definition: A person who dogmatically seeks to apply theories regardless of the practical problems involved.

Usage 1: Yet for all their differences both views reflect the same doctrinaire approach to the question of the role of markets.

Usage 2: This decision is not doctrinaire but pragmatic best value.

Usage 3: "The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers." - Carroll Quigley


Etymology: French from doctrine.

Vocabulary 1

Snide (adjective)

Pronunciation: [snId]

Definition: In speaking of what someone says or writes: condescendingly malicious, sneering, 'snooty.'

Usage: Today's word has all the properties of an English word of pure-bred Germanic origin (though see Etymology), untainted by borrowing from any of our traditional sources. This being the case, the adverb "snidely" and noun "snideness" are perfectly acceptable.

Suggested Usage: Snideness is not simple rudeness; it is a jab that suggests the utterer is in some sense superior: "I didn't like the snide comment she made about having to adjust to 'plebeian' flights to Paris since the Concorde flights were discontinued. " Of course, there are many shades of superiority: "I was taken aback by his snide remark that you ride either a Harley or a motorized scooter."

Etymology: No one seems to know where today's word comes from. Stef Wates, to whom we are indebted for suggesting it, finds it hard to believe that this word is unrelated to Yiddish shnaydn (from German "schneiden") "to cut" or Dutch snijden "to cut." After all, a snide remark is a cutting remark. The problem with this theory is that today's word originally meant "false, bogus, counterfeit, " as snide jewelry or snide political causes. This meaning of the word can be traced back to 1859 while the current sense is traceable only to 1933. Words, like so many other things, are not always what they seem.

esent Simple
Present Simple Used to say what someone usually does I always study English on Tuesday.

Simple Present

Present Progressive/Continuous
Present Progressive Used to say what someone is doing now I am studying English now

Present Continuous

Present Perfect Simple
Present Perfect Simple Used to show unfinished time I have studied English twice this week.

Present Perfect Simple

Present Perfect Progressive/Continuous
Present Perfect Progressive Used to say how long someone has been doing something.

* I have been studying English for 2 years.
* I have been studying English since 1997.

Present Perfect Continuous

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The Past Tenses
Simple Past
Simple Past Used to show a completed action

* I studied English last Saturday.

Past Simple
Past Progressive/Continuous
Past Progressive Often used to say when something was being done or what was happening when something else happened

* I was studying English last Monday when my friend rang.

* I was studying English at 5pm last Monday.

Past Continuous

Past Perfect Simple
Past Perfect Simple The past of have done. Used to say when something was done by.

* I had done my English homework by 6.30 pm last Saturday.

* I had done my English homework by the time I ate dinner last Saturday.

Past Perfect Simple
Past Perfect Progressive/Continuous
Past Perfect Progressive The past of have been. Used to show how long something was done for by a certain time.

* I'd been doing my English homework for 30 minutes when my friend rang last Saturday.

* I'd been doing my English homework for 30 minutes by 1 pm last Saturday.

Past Perfect Continuous

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The Future Tenses

The future can be indicated in several different ways in English. It is often created with the use of auxiliaries: "She will be a student.", "She is going to drive a new car."

English can even create the future by using the simple present (used for timetables,programs etc.), "The train arrives at 10pm" or the present progressive (used for future plans), "He is collecting his mother from the station tonight."

Simple Future (uses will or shall or going to + base form)
Simple Future (Some uncertainty) Decide to do something at the time of speaking I think I'll do my English homework tonight.

Future Simple Uncertain
Simple Future (Certain) Have already decided or arranged to do something I am going to study English next Saturday.

Future Simple Certain

Future Progressive/Continous (uses will be, shall be or going to be +-ing form)
Future Progressive (Some uncertainty) The English lesson should begin at 7.30 and end at 9.15, so the person should be studying at 7.30 (but the lesson might start late). I will be starting my English lesson at 7.30 pm.

Future Progressive (Certain) The English lesson begins at 7.30 and ends at 9.15, so he's certain to be studying when his friend arrives at 8.00 I am going to be studying English when my friends arrive at 9.00 pm.

Future Perfect Simple (uses will have or shall have + past participle)
Future Perfect Simple Used to say something will already be complete by a time. I will have already done my English homework by the time I eat dinner on Saturday.

Future Perfect Simple

Future Perfect Progressive/Continuous (uses will have been or shall have been + -ing form)

Future Perfect Progressive Used to say how long something will have been happening in the future by a certain time. I will have been studying English for 30 minutes when my friends arrive.

Future Perfect Continuous