Ann is in her car. She is on her way to work. She is driving to work.
This means: she is driving now, at the time of speaking. The action is not finished.
Am/is/are - ing is the present continuous:


I am doing something = I'm in the middle of doing something; I've started doing it and I haven't finished yet.
Often the action is happening at the time of speaking:

  • Please don't make so much noise. I'm working. (not 'I work')
  • 'Where is Tini?'    'She's having a bath.' (not 'she has a bath')
  • Let's go out now. It isn't raining anymore. (not 'it doesn't rain')
  • (at party) Hello, Jane. Are you enjoying the party? (not 'do you enjoy')
  • I'm tired. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight! 
But the action is not necessarily happening at the time of speaking. For example:

Tom and Ann are talking in a café. Tom says:

Tom is not reading the book at the time of speaking.
He means that he started it but not finished it yet.
He is in the middle of reading it.

Some more examples:
  • Catherine wants to work in Italy, so she is learning Italian. (but perhaps she isn't learning Italian exactly at the time of speaking)
  • Some friends of mine are building their own house. They hope it will be finished before next summer.
We use present continuous when we talk about things happening in a period around now (for example, today/ this week/ this evening, etc)
  • 'You're working hard today.'       'Yes, I have a lot to do.' (not 'you work hard today')
  • 'Is Susan working  this week?'   'No, she's on holiday.'
We use the present continuous when we talk about changes happening around now:
  • The population of the world is rising very fast. (not 'rises')
  • Is your English getting better? (not 'does your English get better')
For more information and deeper knowledge, you can study the info graphic below:


Now, let's watch a short video about it!



And some more Mr. Bean's video 



So, how was it? Interesting, right? Learning tense is not anymore a burden.
It is said that 'Practice makes Perfect', so let's do it. Please have fun with below Quiz :)