Present continuous for arrangements
Fixed plans with a time and a place: I'm meeting Tom tomorrow, we're flying on Friday.
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The present continuous is not only for now. We also use it for the future, when something is already arranged: we have agreed it with another person, bought a ticket or put it in the diary.
Form: the same tense, a future time
The form doesn't change: am, is, are + the verb with -ing. A time word, or the situation, shows that we mean the future.
- I'm meeting Tom tomorrow at six.
- We aren't working next Monday. It's a holiday.
- Is Yusuf coming to the party on Saturday? Yes, he is.
- Incorrect: I'm meet Anna after work.
- Correct: I'm meeting Anna after work.The verb after am, is, are needs -ing.
Arrangements with a time and a place
Use it for plans that are fixed. Usually other people know about them, and you know when or where.
- We're flying to Lisbon on Friday. I've got the tickets.
- Sofia is starting her new job next week.
- I'm having lunch with a client at one o'clock.
- My parents are coming to stay at the weekend.
This use is very common with verbs of movement and meeting: go, come, leave, arrive, fly, meet, see, have (lunch, a meeting), stay, start.
Now or the future?
Without a time word, the present continuous normally means now. Add a future time and the meaning changes.
- What are you doing?
(Now.)
- What are you doing tonight?
(This evening: what are your plans?)
- Sofia is working in the garden.
(Now.)
- Sofia is working on Saturday.
(It is on her timetable.)
Asking about plans and inviting
We use this tense to ask if someone is free, before we invite them.
- Are you doing anything on Friday evening?
- What are you doing at the weekend?
- "Would you like to come for dinner on Sunday?" "Sorry, I can't. I'm seeing my sister."
The present simple is wrong here.
- Incorrect: What do you do tonight?
- Correct: What are you doing tonight?The question is about one evening's plans, not about a habit.
- Incorrect: I don't come to the lesson tomorrow.
- Correct: I'm not coming to the lesson tomorrow.
Arrangement or intention: going to
Be going to is for something you have decided. The present continuous is for something you have arranged. Often both are possible, and the difference is small.
Form | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
be going to | I've decided. Nothing is fixed yet. | I'm going to look for a new flat. |
present continuous | It is fixed: a time, a place, people. | I'm looking at a flat on Tuesday. |
- I'm going to talk to my manager about it.
(That's my plan. We haven't agreed a time.)
- I'm talking to my manager about it at ten tomorrow.
(The meeting is in the diary.)
- We're going to get married one day.
(An intention.)
- We're getting married in June.
(The date is fixed.)
Only for things people can arrange
We don't use the present continuous for the weather, for other things that nobody has arranged, or for a prediction. Use be going to or will.
- Incorrect: It's raining tomorrow.
- Correct: It's going to rain tomorrow.Rain is not something people arrange, so this form is not used for it.
- Incorrect: I think you're liking the film tonight.
- Correct: I think you'll like the film tonight.This is an opinion about the future, not an arrangement.