Forming negative present continuous sentences

In a lesson from simple present tense, we have learned that to form negative sentences in English, we use "helping verb" with the word "not." Once we understand that, forming negative sentences is very simple. To form negative present continuous sentences, we only need to put "not" after verb to be ("helping verb" of the sentence).

Main verb and helping verb

Main verb, also known as lexical verb, is the primary verb in a sentence that shows the main action or state of being. It carries the core meaning of the verb phrase and can stand alone without any helping verb.

Helping verb, also known as auxiliary verb, is used in conjunction with a main verb to create different tenses, moods, and voices. Helping verbs do not carry the main meaning of the verb phrase but assist the main verb in expressing a specific grammatical nuance.

In this course, we will encounter other helping verbs, and we will get into more details about them. For present continuous tense, verb to be (is, am, are) is the helping verb.

Examples

See below sentences with the highlight and notice where we put the word "not" in the sentence.

1. She is cooking dinner. -> She is not cooking dinner.

2. They are playing soccer. -> They are not playing soccer.

3. I am watching TV. -> I am not watching TV.

Practice questions

Choose the helping verb and main verb of below sentences.