Present Continuous Usage 3: Action in development or progress

Action in progress does not necessarily have to be a temporary, short activity. It may be an every-day action, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in Present Simple.

I will give you a challenge.

The world is changing, or the world changes?

It’s a constant activity, with temporary states and unfinished actions continuously in progress, including permanent progress. Is it Present Simple or Present Continuous?

I would use “The world is changing.” We can use Present Continuous for actions in progress, including constant progress.

Progressive actions, actions in process or progress, do not necessarily have to be temporary, though in most cases they are.

As in the example below, such an action can be pretty permanent. But it must not fool you to use Present Simple (Indefinite).

The world is changing. So are we.

And the world is changing constantly, all the time and every day! All the signs of Present Simple! Hey, not so fast, it’s Present Continuous here.

Very often with the verbs:

become, begin, change, fall, get, increase, improve, start

My English is getting better

The population is increasing

His French is improving

Actions in progress, can be in the entire life of an individual, permanent for everyone, or they can be temporary progressive processes. Of course, talking about such actions in the present.

Also on Present Continuous:

Back to: Present Continuous Tense, also Present Progressive

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