Present Participles
Learn Present Participles in English and practice forming -ing verbs, continuous tenses, and participle phrases with confidence.
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.
| Rule |
|---|
| Drop silent-e before -ing 😊: make becomes making. |
| Double the final consonant after a short stressed vowel 😊: run becomes running. |
| Change -ie to y before -ing 😊: lie becomes lying. |
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.