PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Q1 of 9: I _______ (work) now.

Q2 of 9: Nell _______ (not/watch) television at the moment.

Q3 of 9: They _______ (go) to the cinema.

Q4 of 9: _______ you _______ (call) your mother?

Q5 of 9: John _______ (read) the newspaper.

Q6 of 9: _______ Valerie _______ (study) English?

Q7 of 9: We _______ (not/play) videogames.

Q8 of 9: I _______ (not/drink) water.

Q9 of 9: We _______ (know) her.

1. Using the Present Continuous tense, fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs shown in brackets. For example:
He _________ hard. (to work)
He is working hard.

We ____________ anxious. (to feel)
We are feeling anxious.

1. I _______________ the questions. (to answer)
2. You ________________ boots. (to wear)
3. We ______________ for work. (to look)
4. She ______________ her friend. (to call)
5. He _______________ a house. (to build)
6. They _______________ supper. (to cook)
7. We ______________ a story. (to tell)
8. You ______________ for the bus. (to wait)
9. I _______________ a book. (to read)
10. They _______________ berries. (to pick)
Answers

2. Using the Present Continuous tense, fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs shown in brackets. For example:
They _____________ the lemons. (to squeeze)
They are squeezing the lemons.

It ________ on the sidewalk. (to lie)
It is lying on the sidewalk.

I ___________ the groceries. (to carry)
I am carrying the groceries.

1. She ________________ a letter. (to write)
2. They _________________ about it. (to worry)
3. He _________________ jam. (to make)
4. It _________________. (to die)
5. We _______________ to school. (to hurry)
6. She _________________ us to do it. (to dare)
7. You ________________ on the blanket. (to lie)
8. He _________________ the problem. (to solve)
9. I _________________ now. (to leave)
10. They _________________ to help us. (to try)
Answers

3. Using the Present Continuous tense, fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs shown in brackets. For example:
We ___________ to come. (to plan)
We are planning to come.

They _________ the lawn. (to mow)
They are mowing the lawn.

It __________. (to rain)
It is raining.

1. I _______________ the grass. (to cut)
2. It _______________ downstream. (to float)
3. They _________________ the game. (to win)
4. We _________________ the present. (to wrap)
5. She _________________ lettuce. (to grow)
6. He _________________ for us. (to look)
7. I _________________ a sweater. (to knit)
8. They _________________ wood. (to saw)
9. She _________________ the windows. (to clean)
10. We _________________ the floor. (to scrub)
11. I ________________ the toaster. (to fix)
12. He _________________ his coffee. (to sip)
13. They __________________ the hedge. (to trim)
14. You _________________ the ducks. (to feed)
15. She _________________ her head. (to nod)
Answers

4. Each of the following sentences is preceded by a bare infinitive, the most heavily stressed syllable of which is underlined. Paying attention to whether or not the final consonant should be doubled before ing is added, fill in the blanks with the present participles corresponding to the bare infinitives. Use the American spelling for verbs ending in l. For example:
whisper: They are __________ to their friends.
They are whispering to their friends.

refer: I was _________ to your letter.
I was referring to your letter.

1. open: I am _____________ the door.
2. display: She is ______________ her talents.
3. submit: He is _______________ his report tomorrow.
4. limit: The store is _____________ the number of items on sale.
5. permit: We are not _____________ him to go.
6. sharpen: They are _______________ the pencils.
7. confer: She is ________________ with her colleagues.
8. focus: He is ________________ the camera.
9. repel: They are ________________ the attack.
10. shovel: I am ________________ the steps.
11. destroy: Hail is _______________ the crops.
12. dispel: They are _______________ our doubts.
13. squander: He is _______________ his money.
14. prefer: We are _______________ our new school to the old one.
15. color: The child is ______________ the picture.
16. unravel: We are _____________ the wool.
17. propel: Jet engines are _______________ the plane.
18. flower: The pansies are _______________
19. infer: They are ______________ that we do not want to come.
20. listen: The children are ______________ to us.
Answers

5. Change the following affirmative statements into questions. For example:
It is snowing.
Is it snowing?

They are being cautious.
Are they being cautious?

1. I am learning English.
2. You are carrying a parcel.
3. It is growing colder.
4. We are living in Halifax.
5. They are running a race.
6. He is drinking coffee.
7. She is shopping for presents.
8. I am cleaning the window.
9. We are buying pencils.
10. They are playing football.
Answers

6. Change the affirmative statements given in Exercise 5 into negative statements. For example:
It is snowing.
It is not snowing.

They are being cautious.
They are not being cautious.
Answers

7. Change the affirmative statements given in Exercise 5 into negative questions. Except when the subject of the verb is I, write both the form without contractions and the form with contractions. For example:
It is snowing.
Is it not snowing?
Isn’t it snowing?

They are being cautious.
Are they not being cautious?
Aren’t they being cautious?
Answers

8. Add negative tag questions to the affirmative statements given in Exercise 5. Except when the subject of the verb is I, use contractions for the tag questions. For example:
It is snowing.
It is snowing, isn’t it?

They are being cautious.
They are being cautious, aren’t they?
Answers

9. For each of the following sentences, determine whether the Simple Present tense or the Present Continuous tense is more appropriate, and fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb given in brackets. For example:
Right now, he ________ ridiculous. (to be)
Right now, he is being ridiculous.

She ______ to Sydney every weekend. (to drive)
She drives to Sydney every weekend.

1. At the moment, I __________________ supper. (to cook)
2. He ________________ the paper every weekday. (to read)
3. We ________________ right now. (to study)
4. She ________________ every day. (to study)
5. Now it _______________. (to rain)
6. They ______________ to Mexico every year. (to travel)
7. Just now we ________________ the shopping. (to do)
8. She always ________________ correctly.( to answer)
9. You ________________ never late. (to be)
10. Now I ________________ to the radio. (to listen)
11. Each Sunday, we ________________ the flea market. (to visit)
12. At present, I ________________ for work. (to look)
Answers