Grammar reference and practice 4.1

 

4.1 ■ Present continuous

Affirmative and negative
I	'm (= am) 'm not (= am not)	eating breakfast.
He She It	's (= is) isn't (= is not)
We You They	're (= are) aren't (= are not)
Questions and short answers
Am	I	eating breakfast?	Yes, I am. No, I'm not.
Is	he she it		Yes, he is. No, he isn't.
Are	we you they		Yes, we are. No, we aren't.

Spelling rules: -ing form

• ■Most regular verbs: add -ing.

  ■Verbs ending in -e: remove -e and add -ing.

  ■Verbs ending -ie: change -ie to -ying.

  ■Short verbs ending consonant + vowel + consonant: double the final consonant and add -ing.

Use

We use the present continuous to talk about:

• ■actions that are happening at the time of speaking, often with expressions such as at the moment and now.

  What are you doing? ~ I'm watching TV.

  She's doing her homework at the moment.

  ■actions that are happening around now, but perhaps not at the moment of speaking.

  I'm travelling around Australia. (I'm not travelling right now.)

  We're studying English at university. (We're not studying at the moment.)

1Complete the sentences with the present continuous form of the verbs in brackets. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

• 1I  (sit) on the sofa and  (watch) TV at the moment.

• 2My parents  (prepare) dinner.

• 3A: (you / look) at me?

  B:Yes, I  at you.

• 4She  (not / talk) on the phone, she  (sleep).

• 5We  (learn) about rivers in geography this term.

• 6A: (your brother / listen) to the radio?

  B:No, he .

2Write sentences about what is happening now. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task. You also need to use correct punctuation.

• 1Ayou / eat / breakfast / at the moment?

  BNo / I / read / the newspaper.

• 2My dog / chase / a cat in the garden.

• 3We / take / photographs / of tigers / at London Zoo.

• 4The foxes / dig / a hole in the ground.

• 5The hungry wolves / look for / food.

• 6I / not do / my homework. / I / drink / a cup of tea.

• 7She / listen / to some music / at the moment.

• 8Why / you / laugh?

3Complete the sentences with the verbs in brackets. Then match questions 1–4 to answers a–d. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

• 1 he  (chat) online?

• 2 you  (download) some music?

• 3 she  (do) housework?

• 4 they  (enjoy) their holiday?

aYes, she is. She's doing the ironing.

bNo he isn't. He's doing his homework.

cYes, I am. I'm buying a new album.

dNo, they aren't. It's raining!