A present participle is a verb form that ends in -ing. It can show an action in progress after a form of be, and it can also act like an adjective before or after a noun. Some -ing words are also gerunds, so the same form can have different jobs in different sentences.

Most present participles are made by adding -ing to the base verb. This is the regular pattern for many common verbs.

Verb	Form
work	working
play	playing
rain	raining

Some verbs change spelling before -ing. These changes follow common patterns with silent-e, short stressed vowels, and verbs ending in -ie.

Present participles are used after a form of be to make continuous tenses. These forms describe an action that is in progress at a time in the present, past, or future.

Subject	Form
present time	am, is, are + -ing
past time	was, were + -ing
future time	will be + -ing

A present participle can describe a noun like an adjective. It often shows that the noun is doing the action or has an active quality.

Word or Phrase	Definition
a crying baby	This phrase describes a baby that is crying.
running water	This phrase describes water that is moving.
a smiling face	This phrase describes a face that is smiling.

The same -ing form can be a present participle or a gerund, depending on its job in the sentence. When it helps make a continuous tense or describes a noun, it is a present participle. You can now recognize present participles, form them with common spelling rules, and use them in continuous tenses and adjective-like phrases.