The continuous is more restricted than the English progressive, and signifies that the subject is actually in the process of carrying out an activity. (In English, by contrast, we might say “I’m writing a letter” even when we have taken a break from doing so.) The present continuous is formed by taking the past tense form of the main verb and adding སྒང་ (literally “on”) followed by the appropriate auxiliary.

• ང་ཡི་གེ་བྲིས་པའི་སྒང་ཡིན། “I’m (in the process of) writing a letter.”
• ཁོང་ཕྱག་ལས་གནང་པའི་སྒང་རེད། “He’s (in the middle of) working.”