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He is my brother.

They are my friends.

These two sentences are in the present tense, but I thought the verbs "is" and "are" were used only in the present continuous tense. If this is so, how then are these sentences in the present tense?

And how would I say them in the present continuous tense?

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I cannot tell what the question is. – tchrist Mar 19 at 17:39
FYI, ell.stackexchange.com caters to English Language Learners. – coleopterist Mar 19 at 17:46
perhaps OP wants to know if those two sentences are in present or continuous tense – Theta30 Mar 19 at 18:23

closed as not a real question by tchrist, Kristina Lopez, coleopterist, Mitch, Kris Mar 20 at 6:57

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

2 Answers

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Your confusion stems from the fact that the present continuous tense is formed by using the verb "to be" as a helping verb, as in these examples: "I am combing my hair;" "She is washing the car." But when the primary verb is also "to be," it becomes redundant to use "to be" as the helping verb. We don't need to say "to be to be" (as in "I am being a man"); once is enough. The repetition is not merely unnecessary and superfluous, it is awkward as well. So we simply say, "I am a man." And we wind up with the present tense.

Let me put this another way: Identity is itself a continuous phenomenon. If he is my brother, he "is continuing to be" my brother all the time. His identity doesn't change; it is a continuous thing. So identifying him as my brother (merely saying "he is my brother") in the present tense is all that is necessary; the present continuous tense is not needed.

Remember, the verb "to be" ("is" and "are") signifies the present continuous tense ONLY when it is used as the helping verb.

As for putting your sentences into the present continuous tense, I hope you can now see that there is no reason to do so, and if you did, it would be nonstandard and awkward.

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so we will use present continues tense only for temporary actions. "he is my brother" this is present tense and "he is using my phone" this is present continues tense. – Nag R Mar 20 at 6:23
That's fairly accurate. But make sure you spell "continuous" correctly. And you should really try to learn and use basic punctuation, as well as when and how to capitalize words. – John M. Landsberg Mar 20 at 6:38
You say 'I thought the verbs "is" and "are" were used only in the present continuous tense.' is wrong, then? – Kris Mar 20 at 6:44
@Kris You are correct; that sentence is wrong. "Is" and "are" are not used ONLY in the present continuous tense. As primary verbs, they represent the present tense. When they are helping verbs, they signify the present continuous tense. – John M. Landsberg Mar 20 at 6:55
I meant to say that would be the answer. The Q. is based on a wrong presumption and as such, NARQ. – Kris Mar 20 at 6:57
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up vote -1 down vote

We use be doing something in the present continuous tense instead of is or are. Here are your examples in the present continuous tense:

He is being my brother.

They are being my friends.

But the two sentences above just don't make much sense.

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