Verb to be in present continuous: when is it used?

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If you have studied any English, you have surely come across the verb to be . This verb, which means “to be” or “to be”, is one of the most important in English, among other things, because of its frequency. We find it very often in almost all verbal tenses , but, because of its meaning, the verb to be in the present continuous does not usually appear very often.

We explain why, we tell you the cases in which it does appear estonia phone number list this time and we give you some exercises to practice. Go ahead!

Verbs that do not usually appear in continuous tenses
There are certain verbs that do not usually appear in continuous tenses, neither present, nor past, nor future.

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They are usually called state verbs , and they are not usually placed in continuous because they refer to sensations or states that are not actively carried out:

Hate — odior: I hate watching TV. — I hate watching TV.
Contain — This package contains three gifts .
Understand — entiende: I don't understand what she's saying .
As you can see from the examples, it would be strange to say that a package is containing gifts, although Spanish is much more flexible than English in this regard. There are also cases of verbs that change their meaning if they are put in continuous form:

I think you shouldn't do that. — I think you shouldn't do that.
I'm thinking about my family. — I'm thinking about my family.
He worships his husband. — She worships her husband.
What god are they worshipping? — What god are they praying to?
This coffee tastes very sweet. — This coffee tastes very sweet.
I am tasting the soup to check if it's ready . — I am tasting the soup to see if it's ready.
The verb to be belongs to this last group. We explain when to use it in the present continuous.

The verb to be in the present continuous
Although the verb to be in the present continuous does not appear very often, there is only one case in which it is used, and it is common enough to make it interesting to learn how to use it. Let's first look at a comparison between the simple present and the present continuous: