Preview ESL The Present Continuous Tense Practice Booklet

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Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 1

The present continuous tense is used to say what is happening right now.

I am playing cards.

I’m playing cards.

I am not reading.

I am not sleeping.

I’m not reading.

I’m not sleeping.

You are playing cards.

You’re playing cards.

You are not reading.

You are not sleeping.

You’re not reading.

You’re not sleeping.

You aren’t reading.

You aren’t sleeping.

We are playing cards.

We’re playing cards.

We are not reading.

We are not sleeping.

We’re not reading.

We’re not sleeping.

We aren’t reading.

We aren’t sleeping.

They are playing cards.

They’re playing cards.

They are not reading.

They are not sleeping.

They’re not reading.

They’re not sleeping.

They aren’t reading.

They aren’t sleeping.

I am (not) -ing

He

She

It

is (not)

-ing

We

You

They

are (not)

-ing

Mary is sleeping.

She is sleeping. She’s sleeping.

She is not reading. She’s not reading. She isn’t reading.

Roger is reading.

He is reading.

He’s reading. He is not sleeping.

He’s not sleeping. He isn’t sleeping.

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Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions about the images below.

Example 1: Student A: What is he doing?

Student B: He’s eating a sandwich.

Example 2: Student A: What are they doing?

Student B: They are running.

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The Present Continuous Tense Game Card Activity (Pictionary)

Choose any of the task cards on pages 5 – 10 for this activity. Have a stop watch on hand.

Divide the class into Teams A and B. One student from Team A comes up to the board and is handed

a task card. The student draws a picture of the sentence on the board (without speaking) within an

allotted period of time (30-60 seconds?). As the student is drawing, Team A tries to guess the

sentence. Each sentence must begin with a pronoun (he, she, they). Team A must guess exactly what

is on the card. If team A correctly guesses the sentence, they receive one point. Then it is Team

B’s turn to pick a card, draw, and guess a sentence.

He

is

reading.

They

are playing

cards.

He

is eating

a sandwich.

She

is

sleeping.

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Spelling Rules

1. base form of verb

eat

add –ing to the base

form

eat eating

He is eating a sandwich.

2. base form ends in

a consonant + -e

bake

drop the –e and add –ing

bake baking

Linda is baking a cake.


one vowel + one

consonant

swim

double the consonant and

add –ing

swim swimming

Rick is swimming in the

pool.


one vowel + -w, -x, -y

snow

fix

play

add -ing to the base form

snow snowing

fix fixing

play playing

It is snowing.

Mark is fixing the car.

Justine is playing the

piano.


two vowels + one

consonant

sleep

add –ing to the base form

sleep sleeping

Roger is sleeping.


two consonants

talk

add –ing to the base form

talk talking

Denise is talking on the

phone.

7. base form ends in ie

lie

Change -ie to -y and

add -ing to the base form

lie lying

Benny is lying on the bed.

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Write the -ing forms of the following words.

1. tie tying 7. bite ____________________

2. sit ____________________ 8. push ____________________

3. hurt ____________________ 9. rain ____________________

4. die ____________________ 10. box ____________________

5. stop ____________________ 11. dine ____________________

6. get ____________________ 12. dream ____________________

Fill in the blank with the correct spelling of the the –ing form of the verb in

parentheses.

1. Alma is ____________________ (tie) her shoes.

2. Gilbert and I are ____________________ (study) French.

3. Phillip is ____________________ (stand) in line.

4. The old man is ____________________ (sit) on a park bench.

5. It is ____________________ (snow) in Boston today.

6. Ben and Brenda are ____________________ (smile) for the camera.

7. Linda is ____________________ (mix) the cake batter.

Alma is tying her shoes.

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Negatives

Tell a classmate what these people are doing. Then, say what they are not doing.

Take turns.

Example 1: Brad: eating a hamburger/running

Brad is eating a hamburger. He isn’t running.

Example 2: Richard and Monica: shopping at the mall/riding horses

Richard and Monica are shopping at the mall. They aren’t riding horses.

1. Owen: chewing gum/drinking a glass of milk

2. Henry: sleeping/doing homework

3. Amelia: drinking a cup of coffee/eating peanuts

4. Ella and Logan: dancing/walking in the park

5. Benjamin and Ellie: sitting next to each other/exercising in the gym

6. Lucy: reading a magazine/cleaning the house

7. Dylan: talking on the phone/eating an apple

8. Mathew: playing tennis/swimming

9. Hunter: reading a comic book/studying

10. Norah and Lillian: drinking tea/doing yoga

Carly is listening to music.

She isn’t doing the laundry.

Helen and Inez are doing the laundry.

They aren’t listening to music.

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Questions

Question

Word

+ Be + Subject + -ing Answer

What + is + Roger + reading? He’s reading a comic book.

What + are + you + reading? I’m reading a comic book.

What + are + you + doing? We’re playing cards.

What + are + they + doing? They’re playing cards.

Where + are + you + playing cards? We’re playing cards at Ann’s house.

Where + are + they + playing cards? They’re playing cards at Ann’s

house.

Why + is + Roger + reading a

comic book? Because he likes comic books.

Why + are Gina and Rose + playing cards? Because they enjoy card games.

Make questions. Example: Alice is reading a book. (What) What is Alice reading? 1. Ralph is drinking a cup of coffee. (What)_____________________________________

2. Jim and Sonya are painting the house. (Why)__________________________________

3. You are watching a movie on Netflix. (What) __________________________________

4. Theresa is reading a novel at the library. (Where) ______________________________

5. Jean is texting her best friend. (Why) ______________________________________

6. Dexter is waiting for the bus at the bus stop. (Where) __________________________

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Preview The Present Continuous Tense Game Card Activity Page 22

Sound Effects

Choose any of the game cards on pages 23 – 26 for this activity.

Divide the students into pairs. Have each pair place their chairs back to back. Place the

game cards where both students can reach them.

One student picks a game card and mimes the action on the card while making the

appropriate noise or sound effect. The other student cannot see the action. This student

asks questions in order to guess the action being mimed. The object of the game is for

the other student to guess the action from listening to the sound effect. If after 3

questions the student cannot guess the activity, he/she can turn around, watch the mime,

and guess again. Students take turns drawing cards and miming with sound.

Example 1:

Student A: draws a card and reads it. The card says, “Make a smoothie”. The student mimes

mixing fruits in a blender while making a loud mechanical sound or noise.

Student B: Are you vacuuming the floor?

Student A: No, I’m not.

Student B: Are you mowing the grass?


Student B: Are you making a smoothie?

Student A: Yes, I am.

Example 2:

Student A: draws a card and reads it. The card says, “Make a smoothie”. The student mimes

mixing fruits in a blender while making a loud mechanical sound or noise.

Student B: Are you vacuuming the floor?


Student B: Are you mowing the grass?


Student B: Are you driving a race car?


Student B turns around and watches the mime.

Student B: Are you making a smoothie? Student A: Yes, I am.

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Preview The Present Continuous Tense Sound Effects Game Card Activity

Page 23

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The present continuous tense is used to talk about:

Actions that are happening at this precise moment

We are eating dinner right now.

Temporary actions

I am walking to work this week. My car is in the repair shop until Saturday.

Something that takes a long time to complete

Dylan is studying economics at the university.

Actions that contrast with previous actions

Nowadays people are using Facebook and Twitter. People don’t often write

letters.

Future plans

Our grandmother is visiting us three weeks from now.

Tendencies, trends, and things that are changing

The Universe is expanding.

Something that is happening before and after a given time.

At 7:00 p.m. we are usually eating dinner.

The present continuous tense is used with the adverbs always, or constantly, in order

to talk about:

Something that happens again and again

It is always raining in Portland.

Angry feelings, or annoyance at things that happen again and again.

You are always interrupting me when I am working. Leave me alone. I’m busy

now.

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Preview The Present Continuous Tense Board Game Page 39

What are you usually doing on Saturday?

Directions

Give each 4 students the game board on the next page and a die (or use a virtual die).

Ask them to use a coin as a token.

The first player rolls the die and moves forward the number of squares shown. The

player then tells the others what he or she is usually doing at that time on Saturday.

This game is a race to the finish.

The student who is first to reach the finish square is the winner.

At 7:00 a.m. on Saturday

I am usually sleeping.

At 12:30 p.m. on Saturday

I am usually eating lunch.

At 10:45 p.m. on Saturday

I am usually singing along

with the karaoke machine at

a party.

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The Present Continuous Tense

Image and Photo Credits:

Office.com Clip Art

Bing Image Search/Creative Commons Images

Clip Art Heaven www.clipartheaven.com

Clker.com

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/d/b/b/13189610791750432430Girl%20Feeding%20Her

%20Cat.svg.hi.png

http://www.clker.com/clipart-little-boy-big-umbrella.html

Google Image Search http://photos.gograph.com/thumbs/CSP/CSP355/k3554415.jpg

http://www.clipartheaven.com/

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/d/b/b/13189610791750432430Girl%20Feeding%20Her%20Cat.svg.hi.png

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/4/d/b/b/13189610791750432430Girl%20Feeding%20Her%20Cat.svg.hi.png

http://www.clker.com/clipart-little-boy-big-umbrella.html

http://photos.gograph.com/thumbs/CSP/CSP355/k3554415.jpg

Education

Preview ESL The Present Continuous Tense Practice Booklet