Present Continuous Tense - I am doing

The name is misleading if you think that it is about an action that continues into the future or one that lasts long. Compare these two sentences:
I live in Berlin. - present simple tense 
I am eating ice-cream. - present continuous tense
Even it my wildest dreams the amount of time I eat ice-cream is not longer than the amount of time I can live in Berlin.

So. How to use then this tense, which is present but not exactly continuing?

1. We describe what is taking place at the moment:
I am writing an article about an English tense.
You are reading it and enjoying my 'witty comments'.
We might want to describe something happening now but not exactly as we speak. My mom often tried to change the channel when dad fell asleep in front of the television. Somehow he always woke up and said:
Put the game back on, I'm watching it!
Or when my sister gets up to go to the kitchen and barks at me:
Don't touch my cocoa, I'm drinking that!

2. Describes something temporary.
Present simple tense refers to events in general:
I work as an engineer.
Present continuous refers to something temporary, i.e. a slightly longer version of the first use:
This month the company is not working, so I am picking strawberries in my aunt's farm.

3. It is used to talk about the future, about an arrangement.
I am going to the cinema with the girls after work.This is not simply planned, it has been agreed on. The girls know about it, we have decided where we are going and what we are watching and we might even have booked tickets.
Other examples:
I am flying to Moscow next month.
We are meeting at their office.
The President is coming back tomorrow.

! This verb tense is NOT used with the so called stative verbs.
These are verbs that describe a state, for example verbs about feelings (feel, hope, love, like, hate, etc.), possession (own, possess, have), etc. A list of those you can find on the page about stative verbs.

How to form it:

to be + verb-ing

'to be' is in its respective form (I am , he is, we are and so on) and add the gerund (verb with -ing):
The example uses the verb "work"

Positive form:

I	am	working.
He	is
She
It
We	are
You
They

Negative form:
As usual, we negate the auxiliary verb. In other words, add 'not' after 'to be':

I	am	not	working.
He	is
She
It
We	are
You
They

Questions:
We take the auxiliary verb to the front and if there is a question word, it comes before it:

	Am	I	working?
What	is	he
	Is	she
Why	isn't	it
Where	are	we
	Are	you
How	are	they

Exercises