Feel, look smell and taste in the present continuous

Rule 1:  Feel used in the present continuous form:

When followed by an adjective indicative indicating the subject’s emotions or physical or mental condition, e.g. angry/pleased, happy/sad, hot/cold, tense/relaxed, nervous/confident, is normally used in the simple tenses but can also be used in the present continuous.

• How do you feel 
• Are you feeling? 
• I am feeling better.

Feel meaning ‘touch’ (usually in order to learn something) can be used in the continuous.

The doctor was feeling her pulse.

Similarly, feel for meaning ‘try to find something by touching’ :

• He was feeling for the keyhole in the dark.

But feel is not used in the continuous when it means ‘sense’.

• Don’t you feel the house shaking?

When it means ‘think’

• I feel you are wrong

And when it is used as a link verb:

• The water feels cold.

Rule 2: Look used in the present continuous form:

The continuous is not used with look used as link verb, e.g. That cake looks good. Or with look on   (=  consider), look up to (=respect) and look down on (= despise)

But look (at), look for/in/into/out and look on (= watch) are deliberate actions and can be used in the continuous tenses:

• He is looking for his glasses. 
• I’m looking out for a better job.

Rule 3: Smell used in the present continuous tense form:

The continuous is not used with smell meaning ‘perceive a scant/an odor’, e.g. I smell gas.

But can be used with smell meaning ‘sniff at’:

• Why are you smelling the milk? Is it sour?

Rule 4: Taste used in the present continuous tense form:

Taste as a link verb is not used in the continuous:

• This coffee taste bitter. (has a bitter taste)

But taste meaning to taste the flavor of can be used in the continuous:

• She was tasting the pudding to see if it was sweet enough.

Other possible uses of the present continuous tense

Rule 1: With a pint in time to indicate an action which begins before this point and probably continuous after it:

• At six I am bathing the baby. (I start bathing him before six.)
• Similarly with a verb in the simple present:

They are flying over the desert when one of the engines fails.

The present continuous is rarely used in this way except in descriptions of daily routing and in dramatic narrative, but the past continuous is often combined with a point in time or a verb in the simple past.

Rule 2: With always:

• He is always losing his keys. 

For a frequently repeated action, usually when the frequency annoys the speaker of seems unreasonable to him: Tom is always  going away for weekends (present continuous) would imply that he goes away very often, probably too often in the speaker’s opinion. But it does not necessarily mean that he goes away every weekend. It is not a literal statement. Compare with always + simple present:

• Tom always goes away at weekends

• Tom goes away every weekend. (a literal statement)

I/we + always + continuous tense is also possible here. The repeated action is then often accidental:

• I’m always making that mistake. 
• For an action which appears to be continuous:
• He’s always working – He works the whole time.

This sort of action quite often annoys the speaker but doesn’t necessarily do so: He’s always reading could imply that he spends too much time reading, but could also be said in a tone of approval.

The first person could be used here too. The action then, like the other actions here in 2, is usually deliberate.

Present perfect continuous tense

For an action that began in the past and is still occurring in the present (present perfect rules, third item), it is also possible to use the present perfect continuous tense. Use the following rule for form this aspect.

Subject + (has, have) + been + verb + ing …….

• John has been living in the same house for twenty years.
• John has lived in the same house for twenty years.

Examples of present perfect continuous tense:

• Jorge has already walked (infinite time) to school.
• He has been (more than once) to California three times.
• Mary has seen (indefinite time) this movie before.
• They have been (not yet completed) at home all day.
• We haven’t gone (indefinite time) to the store yet.
• John has been working (not yet completed) in Washington for three years

Structure of Present perfect tense

Use the following rule to form the present perfect tense structure.

Subject   +  (has, have) + Verb in past participle.........

The present perfect is used to indicate

An action that happened at an indefinite time in the past

John has traveledaround the world. 

An action that happened more than once in the past.

George has seen this movie three times.

An action that began in the past and is still occurring in the present

John has lived in the same house for twenty years. (He still lives there.)

                                       

                                            For/Since 

Use for + duration of time: for five hours, for thirty years, for ten minutes. Use since + begining  time

                                      

                                      

                                          Yet/Already

The adverbs yet and already are used to indicate that something (hasn't happened) at an unspecified time in the past. These adverbs are often used with the present perfect.

already - affirmative sentences  yet- negative sentences and question

 Not: already usually appears between the auxiliary and the main verb; however, it can appear at the beginning or end of the sentence.

Subject + (has, have) + already + verb in pas participle.........

Subject + (has, have) + not + verb in past participle .....+ yet .......

Example of yet and already:

• We have already written our reports
• We haven't written our reports yet.
• Gabriel hasn't already the entire book.
• The president hasn't decided what to do yet.
• Sam has already recorded the results of the experiment.
• Maria hasn't called her parents yet.

Note: Another option with the use of yet is sometimes possible. In this case, the verb is positive and the adverb yet does not appear at the end of the sentences.

Subject + (has, have) + yet + verb in infinitive...........

• John has yet to learnthe material.
• John hasn't learned the material yet.
• We have yet to decidewhat to do with the money.
• We haven't decidedwhat to do with the money.

Present continuous tense

Use the following rule to form the present continuous tense structure

Subject     +   (am, is, are)  +(verb + ing) .........

The present continuous is used to indicate present time (now) with all but the stative verbs listed previously.

      

                      John is eating dinner now

It is also used to indicate future time.

                We are leavingfor the theater at seven o' clock.

 Examples of present continuous tense:

•   The committee members are examining the material now. (present time)
•   George is leaving for France tomorrow.  (future time)
•   Henry is walking to school tomorrow (future time)
•   The president is trying to contact his advisers now. (present time)
•   The secretary is typing the letter now. (present time)
•  We are flying to American next month. (future time) 

Simple present tense

This tense is usually not used to indicate present time. However, it is used to indicate present time (now) with the following statue verbs:

Know     believe     hear     see  smell     wish     understand      hate    love           like      want   sound      have        need   appear      seem     taste     own

Note: The verbs listed above are almost never used in the present or past continuous, although it is possible in some cases.

Simple present is used to indicate a regular or habitual action.

                                   John walks to school every day

Examples of simple present tense:

• Thy understand the problem now.
• Henry always swimsin the evening.
• We want to leave now.
• The coffee tastes delicious.
• Mark usually walksto school.
• Your cough sounds bad