Present continuous exercises with answers
If you want to practise the use and form of English present tenses in a number of online interactive exercises, go to "Present simple and continuous online" (have a look at the red menu on the left).
Grammar rules with examples
Form
Positive statements: I am playing (I'm playing), You are watching (You're watching), He is sitting (He's sitting), We are taking (We're taking), They are speaking (They're speaking)
Negative statements: I am not playing (I'm not playing), You are not playing (You aren't playing), He is not playing (He isn't playing)
Questions: Are you playing? Is he playing?
Negative questions: Are you not playing? (Aren't you playing?) Is he not playing? (Isn't he playing?)
This tense is formed with the verb to be and the present participle (-ing ending). The negative questions normally express a surprise.
Isn't he working?
The passive voice: The game is being played. The letters are being written.
Use
1. We use the present continuous tense for activities that are happening just now.
Examples: I am doing some English exercises at the moment. You aren't listening! Why is he sitting here?
2. We use it for an action happening about this time (today, this week), but not necessarily at the moment of speaking. It is a temporary activity.
Examples: I am in London. I am staying at the hotel. (But just now you can be somewhere else.)
She can't go out. She is writing her essay today. (But she can be having lunch at the moment.)
You can't borrow this book today. Mary is reading it. (But not right now.)
3. With a future time expression (soon, on Monday) it is used for definite arrangements in the near future. The continuous tense is more personal than the simple, because it expresses the speaker's plan.
Examples: I am leaving soon. We are meeting on Monday.
Our tip
- For printable English grammar rules try and see E-grammar printables on this website (the first button in the menu), where you can download these rules in pdf documents for free and print them easily. You will find printable exercises on English tenses and verb foms at Esl worksheets.