Present Continuous with Be Verb worksheet

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1. pierre says:

   December 17, 2003

   please i want to know when do we use the present continuous of verb to be (Being)

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2. gord says:

   December 17, 2003

   Dear Pierre,

   We use it in a few different instances.

   For example, when someone is purposefully engaging in a given state. Like, “Tom is being a grouch,” or “Mary is being obtuse”. It means that person is behaving in a certain way on purpose.

   It is also often used conversationally to refer to past continuous, such as: “Here I am being punched in the mouth, and where are you? You’re out front waiting for something to happen!” (…in a case where these events happened previously, such as a few hours or days before…)

   But we wouldn’t usually say “I am being happy,” or “I am being tired,” we usually just say “I am happy,” or “I am tired.” This is the point I was trying to make to my students. If someone does say, “I am being happy,” it usually means they are making an effort to be happy, or that their being happy is otherwise somehow something they are actively *doing*.

   I hope that helps.

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