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Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 1

Mary is sleeping.
She is sleeping.
Shes sleeping.
She is not reading.
Shes not reading.
She isnt reading.

Roger is reading.
He is reading.
Hes reading.
He is not sleeping.
Hes not sleeping.
He isnt sleeping.

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

am (not)

-ing

is (not)

-ing

are (not)

-ing

He
She
It
We
You
They
I am playing cards.
Im playing cards.
I am not reading.
I am not sleeping.
Im not reading.
Im not sleeping.

You are playing cards.

Youre playing cards.
You are not reading.
You are not sleeping.
Youre not reading.
Youre not sleeping.
You arent reading.
You arent sleeping.

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

We are playing cards.

Were playing cards.
We are not reading.
We are not sleeping.
Were not reading.
Were not sleeping.
We arent reading.
We arent sleeping.

They are playing cards.

Theyre playing cards.
They are not reading.
They are not sleeping.
Theyre not reading.
Theyre not sleeping.
They arent reading.
They arent sleeping.

Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 2

Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions about the images below.
Example 1: Student A: What is he doing?
Student B: Hes eating a sandwich.
Example 2: Student A: What are they doing?
Student B: They are running.

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

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Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 5
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

Bs turn to pick a card, draw, and guess a sentence.

She

He

is

is

sleeping.

reading.

They

He

are playing

is eating

cards.

a sandwich.

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 11

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.

3.

base form ends in

one vowel + one
consonant
swim

double the consonant and

add ing
swim
swimming

Rick is swimming in the

pool.

4.

base form ends in

one vowel + -w, -x, -y
snow
fix
play

add -ing to the base form

snow
snowing
fix
fixing
play
playing

5.

base form ends in

two vowels + one
consonant
sleep

add ing to the base form

sleep
sleeping

Roger is sleeping.

6.

base form ends in

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.

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

It is snowing.
Mark is fixing the car.
Justine is playing the
piano.

Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 12

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.

Alma is tying her shoes.

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

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

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 16

Negatives

Carly is listening to music.

Helen and Inez are doing the laundry.

She isnt doing the laundry.

They arent listening to music.

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 isnt running.

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

Richard and Monica are shopping at the mall. They arent 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

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 20

Questions

Question +
Word
What
+
What
+
What
+
What
+
Where
+
Where
+

Be

+ Subject

+ -ing

is
are
are
are
are
are

+
+
+
+
+
+

+
+
+
+
+
+

Why

+ is

Why

+ are

Roger
you
you
they
you
they

+ Roger
Gina and Rose

reading?
reading?
doing?
doing?
playing cards?
playing cards?

Answer
Hes reading a comic book.
Im reading a comic book.
Were playing cards.
Theyre playing cards.
Were playing cards at Anns house.
Theyre playing cards at Anns
house.
Because he likes comic books.

+ reading a
comic book?
+ 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) __________________________

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

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, Im not.
Student B: Are you mowing the grass?
Student A: No, Im not.
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 A: No, Im not.
Student B: Are you mowing the grass?
Student A: No, Im not.
Student B: Are you driving a race car?
Student A: No, Im not.
Student B turns around and watches the mime.
Student B: Are you making a smoothie?
Student A: Yes, I am.

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

Preview The Present Continuous Tense Sound Effects Game Card Activity
Page 23

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

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Preview The Present Continuous Tense Page 34

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 dont 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. Im busy
now.

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

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Preview The Present Continuous Tense Board Game Page 39

What are you usually doing on Saturday?

At 7:00 a.m. on Saturday

I am usually sleeping.

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 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.

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.

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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

Image and Photo Credits: See Page 12.