Hook

Look around you right now. What are you doing at this exact moment? English has a special tense just for this.

Notice

Look at these sentences:

  • I am reading this lesson.
  • She is cooking dinner.
  • They are playing football.
  • He isn’t sleeping. He’s working.

Rule

The present continuous describes an action happening right now.

Structure: am/is/are + verb-ing

  • I am working. (I’m working)
  • He/She/It is eating. (He’s eating)
  • We/You/They are studying. (We’re studying)

Negative: am not / isn’t / aren’t + verb-ing

  • She isn’t sleeping.
  • They aren’t listening.

Spelling: make → making (drop e), run → running (double letter), study → studying (no change).

Practice

  1. Complete: I ___ (write) an email now. (Answer: am writing)
  2. Complete: She ___ (not/watch) TV right now. (Answer: isn’t watching)
  3. Complete: They ___ (play) in the garden. (Answer: are playing)
  4. Correct the spelling: swim + ing (Answer: swimming)
  5. Correct the spelling: make + ing (Answer: making)
  6. Make negative: He is sleeping. (Answer: He isn’t sleeping.)

Connect

Practice -ing spelling rules with our Word Ladder game.

Try the Word Ladder Game →

CEFR A1: Spoken Production — can describe what is happening right now using simple phrases.

Azizul Hakim
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