Grammar: Present Continuous

Ex.1 Read the dialogue, and translate the underlined sentences.

At a party

Mark - There are a lot of people here . I don’t know many of them.

Jane - Don’t worry. I’ll tell you about them.

Jane - What would you like to drink?

Mark - A glass of wine, please.

• Thank you.

• Could you tell me one or two names?

Jane - Of course. Can you see that man over there, sitting at the table?

His name is Paul. He is really nice. He is a musician. He works in New York. He is talking to Alice. She is on the other side of the table. She is wearing a red and white T-shirt. Alice is very rich and lives in a beautiful house. Next to her is Helen. She is drinking some wine. She is one of my oldest friends. We were at school together.

Mark - What does she do?

Jane - She is a writer.

Mark - What does she write?

Jane - She writes children’s stories. Not very successful ones, but never mind. Now she is talking to Mike. Mike is smoking a cigar. Mike travels all over the world. He is a film producer.

Mark - And who are the children?

Jane - They are Helen’s girls: Bess and Diana. They go to St.Mary’s school. Do you know it?

Mark - Yes, I do.

Jane - They are eating crisps and dropping them all over the carpet.

Ex.2 Make up positive and then negative sentences using the Present Continuous Tense.

1. I/sit/at the table now. 2. My friend/wear jeans. 3. The teacher/stand now. 4. People/walk/in the street now. 5. My parents/work/at the moment. 6. It/snow now. 7. We/buy/some new clothes. 8. She/water/the flowers.

Ex.3 Make up sentences that are true for you now.

wearing a suit; standing up; playing tennis; working with a friend; raining; doing an exercise; sun shining; reading a text; teacher smoking; speaking.

Ex.4 Put the words in the correct order to make questions in the Present Continuous.

1. working in you shop the are now? 2. tonight what you doing are? 3. your is why daughter crying? 4. friend letter writing a your is now? 5. floor what on doing the you are? 6. time they for tonight coming what are dinner? 7. Jane to talking Mark is? 8. she wearing T-shirt a red is? 9. they party to going are a tonight?

Ex.5 Put the necessary verbs in the Present Continuous into the gaps.

1. Let’s take an umbrella. It ... ... outside.

2. Listen to those people. What language ... they ... ?

3. I ... ... a very interesting book at the moment.

4. He ... not ... jeans now.

5. They ... ... hard because they’ve got exams next week.

6. Nick ... ... for a better job because he doesn’t earn much now.

7. The telephone ... ... . Can you answer it?

8. I ... not ... the television. You can turn it off.

Ex.6 Choose the correct sentence.

One sentence is wrong.

1. a) Water is boiling at 100 degrees Celsius.

b) Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

2. a) It’s a lovely day. The sun shines.

b) It’s a lovely day. The sun is shining.

3. a) What are you doing tonight?

b) What do you do tonight?

4. a) Do you believe in God?

b) Are you believing in God?

5. a) Can you hear those people? What do they talk about?

b) Can you hear those people? What are they talking about?

6. a) How many languages does Tom speak?

b) How many languages is Tom speaking?

Ex.7 Put in am is are do does (not) into the gaps.

1. She says she is 18 years old but I ... believe her.

2. ... you like London? Yes, I ... .

3. Where is Kate? She ... having a bath.

4. What ... you doing tonight? I ... going to a restaurant.

5. What time ... he usually come home? At 5 o’clock.

6. We ... looking for a pair of brown shoes.

7. Certainly. What size ... you take?

8. That’s my wife over there. She ... standing at the window.

Ex.8 Agree or disagree with these statements.

1. You are washing your car.

2. You are always late for classes.

3. It is snowing outside.

4. We are speaking German now.

5. Your friend knows English well.

6. Students miss classes every day.

7. The teacher is brushing his hair now.

8. All people like coffee very much.

9. You are smoking a cigar.

Ex.9 Ask three other students what they are doing tonight.

St 1 St 2 St 3

cleaning a flat?

watching TV?

doing homework?

reading a book?

going to a restaurant?

playing tennis?

washing clothes?

cooking dinner?