Present Continuous Present Simple and Continuous

Present Continuous

How do you spell it? Write the continuous form(-ing) of these verbs in the correct list.

arrive begin - come- cry dance - decide-die dig - forget have help laugh -
listen lie live make play put rob start stop swim tie wear win
work write

+ing n nn / t tt etc. e ing ie ying

Complete the postcard with the correct form of the present continuous

Well, here we are in Jamaica and the sun (1) ________________ (shine). I (2)
__________________ (lie) on the beach and (3) ______________ (watch) people in
the sea. Most of them (4) __________________ (swim) but one or two of them (5)
________________ (not swim) they (6) ______________ (stand) in the water and
(7) __________________ (watch) the little fish around their feet. A group of people
(8) ____________________ (play) volleyball on the beach. The sun is very hot. Julia
(9) ___________ (not lie) with me on the beach she (10) ______________ (sit)
under a tree. She (11) ________________ (wear) a big sun hat and (12)
__________________ (eat) a piece of watermelon. Its a great life! See you in ten
days.

Love Josie.

You are talking to your friend, Barbara,on the phone. Ask questions to find out what
she and her family are doing.

1YOU: ______________________________?
BARBARA: In the sitting room.
2YOU: ___________________________ (do)?
BARBARA: Im talking to you.
3YOU: ___________________________ (sit)?
BARBARA: on the floor.
4YOU: ___________________________ (laugh)?
BARBARA: Because there's a funny man on TV.
5YOU: ___________________________ (watch)?
BARBARA: A comedy programme
6YOU: ___________________________ (enjoy) it?
BARBARA: Yes, Im listening to you too.
YOU And wheres Pete?
BARBARA: In the kitchen
7YOU: ___________________________ (cook) dinner?
BARBARA: No, hes talking to someone.
8 YOU: ___________________________ (talk) to?
BARBARA: His friend James.
9 And where are your parents?
BARBARA: In the kitchen too.
10 YOU: ___________________________ (talk) to James?
BARBARA: No ,they're making dinner.
11 YOU: ___________________________ (make)?
BARBARA: My mum is cooking fish and my dad is cutting the bread

Present Simple and Continuous

Which is right?

From: Maggie
To: Stefan
Subject: Im bored!

Hi, Stefan,

(1)It rains/It'sraining, so (2) I write/I'm writing to you. (3 )I'm hating/I hate rain!
(4 )Do you remember/Are you remembering Lorenzo, my cat? At the moment,
(5 )he lies/he's lying on the floor and (6) keeps/keeping my feet warm.He's really old
now, and every day(7 )he's sleeping/he sleeps for hours. One good thing ,
(8 )he doesn't catch/he isn't catching birds anymore he's too slow.
My mum and dad (9 ) watch/are watching an old black and White film on TV.
(10)They're liking/They like the old Buster Keaton comedies.(11)They don't laugh/
They aren't laughing very much, so maybe this one isn't funny.
Oh, big surprise!I've got a job .Every Saturday (12 )I work/I'm working from 9
o'clockto 5 o'clock in a supermarket .It's an OK job ,but (13) I don't want/I'm not
wanting to stay there for ever.
What (14 ) do you do/are you doing at the moment? I think (15 ) you sit/you're sitting
in your garden and (16 ) the sun shines/the sun's shining and.Tell me.

Love, Maggie

Put the verb brackets into the correct tense.

1
RUTH: Where ________________ (you/go)?
JAMES: To the cinema
RUTH: _____________________ (you/enjoy) the cinema?
JAMES: Yes, I do.

2
BOY:What ___________________ (you/do)?
WOMAN:Im a photographer.
BOY: What ___________________ (you/do)
WOMAN:Im checking the light.

3
JEFF:When ___________________ (usually/he/finish) work?
BRIAN:At quarter past five.
JEFF:Why ______________________ (he/leave) now?
BRIAN:Because he has an appointment with the dentist.

4
LUCY:What __________________ (John/do)?
PAUL:Reading, I think.
LUCY:_________________________ (usually/he/read) a lot?
PAUL:Yes, all the time.

5
BETH:Why _______________________ (the children run)?
ANN:Because they are late.
BETH:What time __________________________ (they/start) school?
ANN:At half past eight.

Complete the sentences. Use the present simple (do etc.) or present continuous (doing
etc.), positive or negative.

1) Have a chocolate No thanks, I . (like)

chocolate.

2) What A letter from my sister.

(you/read)?

3) Lets have lunch in the No we cant. It .

garden. . (rain).

4)Where . (be) He is in his study. He

David? . (read ) emails.

5) Are Sue and Joe asleep? Yes. Turn the TV off.

They. (watch) it.

6) What time Me? About 7 usually.

(usually/you/ get up?
 7) Sandra? No, shes a vegetarian
(eat) meat?

8)Why Because Im happy.

(you/smile)?

9) (you/like) Not really. I

French films? (understand) them.

Write questions from these words. Put the verbs in the present simple(do you have etc.) or
the present continuous (are you having etc.).

1. she/have/dinner at the moment?

2. you/read/a newspaper every day?
3. You/fourteen?
4. it/rain much in your country ?
5. you/usually/do your homework on a computer ?
6. you/have/a drink now?
7. She/at home?
8. he/drink coffee for breakfast every day?
9. you/work/at the moment?
10. students/eat lunch at school in your country ?

Present Simple or Continuous (Cutting Edge Intermediate)

Mike, a salesman, is talking to his doctor about his stress problems. Complete the gaps
with the best form of the verbs in brackets
DOCTOR: How can I help you, Mr Daniels?
MIKE: Well, I started having bad headaches a couple of weeks ago and they (1)
______________ (get) worse. I cant sleep properly, Im tired all the time, and the worst
thing is my hair (2) ______________ (go) grey and Im only 31.
DOCTOR: I see. Let me ask you some questions. (3)____________________(you/smoke)?
MIKE: No, I gave up a month ago.
DOCTOR: Right. I see you are a salesman. On average how many hours a week (4)
___________________________ (you/work)?
MIKE: Well, normally (5) __________________ (do) eight hours, but at the momento I (6)
_______________________ work at least ten hours and some Saturdays.
DOCTOR. That is a lot. And so how (7) ______________________ (you/relax)?
MIKE: Well, I usually (8) ____________________ (sit) in front of the TV with a pizza and
a few beers.
DOCTOR: Hmm. (9) _______________________ (you/do) any exercise at the moment?
MIKE: Not really, but Im losing a lot of weight and I (10) _____________ (not/know)
why?
DOCTOR: I think you (11) __________________ (suffer) from stress. I (12)
______________ (want) you to eat a more varied diet and to do some exercise. Come
back again and see me in four weeks and Ill check you again.

The following conversation takes place in a camera shop. Complete the gaps with the best
form of the verb in brackets.

A: Good morning, how can I help you?

B: Well, I (1) ________________________ (look for) a compact camera with a 200m lens.
A: Right. Well, this new models very good. It (2) ________________ (have) a zoom and
a built-in flash an it only (3) __________________ (cost) 150.
B: Ah. You see I (4) _________________ (buy) it for a friend and he (5)
_______________ (not want) to spend more than 100.
A: Ok, I (6) ______________ (understand) the problem. Lets see I (7) _____________
(think) the Zenco 460 is a very good buy. Theres a picture here in the catalogue.
B: Oh, yes, that (8) ______________ (look) nice.
A: The only problema is that we (9) _______________ (not have) any in the shop at the
momento. In fact, we (10) ________________ (wait) for some to come from our other
shop in Oxford.
B: Rght, so when will they be there?
A: Well, I (11) ______________________ (not know) exactly. I really need to ask the
manager, but Im afraid she (12) ________________ (have) lunch at the momento. Shell
be back in about half and hour.
B: Ok, Perhaps Ill come back later.

Rewrite these sentences with the adverb in the correct position.

1 I speak English on the pone. (sometimes)
2 My colleague Jo uses my computer (occasionally)
3 My classmate Carla has lunch with me (quite often)
4 My boss is in the office (hardly ever)
5 My neighbours are very quiet (most of the time)
6 My sister-in-law Jenny phones me on Mondays (usually)
7 Pauls relatives visit us at Christmas (always)
8 Stephen sees his ex- girlfriend (hardly ever)
9 Daryl, my flatmate, cleans the bathroom. (never)

Spell the ing form of these verbs

A read
B pay
C write
D see
E begin
F fax
G hope
H plan
I jog
J travel
K print
L answer
M train
N grow
O drive

Present Simple (Cutting Edge Pre Intermediate)

a) Read the text about the Wilson sisters.
Jennifer and Rosemary Wilson are twin sisters., and theyre both famous but they have
very different lives!

Jennifer lives in London: shes a well-known TV presenter, and she gets up at 3 am every
day to introduce the popular breakfastshow Good Morning UK! She finishes work at about
10.30 am.

Rosemary is a profesional tennis player: she now lives in Beverly Hills, USA with her
American husband, Ron. Rosemary comes to England two or three times a year to play:
she always stays with her sister.
b) Correct the information in the sentences below. Use the information in the text.
1 Jennifer and Rosemary have very similar lives.
2 Jennifer and Rosemary live in the same country.
3 Jennifer lives in hte United States.
4 She works in the evening.
5 Rosemary plays golf.
6 She stays in a hotel when she comes to Britain.
7 They see each other every weekend.

c) Write questions for these answers

1 __________________________________?
She lives in London.
2 __________________________________?
At 3 am
3 ___________________________________?
At about 10.30 am
4 ___________________________________?
In Beverly Hills.
5 ___________________________________?
Two or three times a year.
6 ___________________________________?
To play tennis.
7 ____________________________________?
With her sister.

Put the verb in brackets into the correct form of the Present Continuous
1
A: Good evening. ____________________________ (you/enjoy) yourselves?
B: Oh, yes! We ____________________________(have) a fantastic time, thank you!
2
A: Im sorry ____________________________ (I/drive) too fast for you?
B: Yes, ________________ Could you slow down a bit?
3
A: What ___________________________________ (you/do)?
B: Theres a film on TV, but I ____________________ (not/watch) it really.
4
A: Whats the problem?
B: I____________________________________(look for) my keys.
_________________________ (you/sit) on them?
A: Oh, yes. Here they are, sorry!
5 Its Sunday, so Virginia _____________________ (not work) today. She
_________________ (spend) some time at home for a change.

Underline the correct form: Present Simple or Continuous

1
A: What languages are you speakng/do you speak?
B: English, French and Italian.
2
A: Bang! Ow!
B: Whats the matter- What do you do/are you doing?
3
A: Whats that sone you listen to/youre listening to?
B: Its called Angels. Good, isnt it?
4
A: What are you reading/do you read?
B: Its an article about holidays in Switzerland.
5
A: Do you smoke/Are you smoking?
B: No, thank you. I stopped smoking two years ago.
6
A: Why are you laughing/do you laugh?
B: Its your face. You look so funny!!
7
A: Does your brother play/Is your brother playing any sport?
B: Yes, football in the winter, tennis in the summer and swimming all year.
8
A: Paul. Paul!! Are you listening/Do you listen to me?
B: Hmm? What? Sorry?
Tick the sentences which are correct. Put a cross by the sentences which are wrong
and correct them.

1 Are you liking coffee?

2 Do you like coffee?
3 Im not believing you!
4 Do you want a drink?
5 Im not understanding him.
6 Im hating cold weather.
7 I dont understand Turkish.
8 Im not knowing her name.