Present Continuous Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A1
Read the sentences below. Imagine you are showing a photo of a recent trip or party to a friend. Choose the correct form of the Present Continuous tense to describe what is happening in the picture.
1 Look at this picture! I ______ a big chocolate cake here.
(a) eating
(b) am eating
(c) is eating
2 In the center of the photo, my brother David ______ a red hat.
(a) wears
(b) am wearing
(c) is wearing
3 My friends Mary and Tom ______ at the camera. They are watching a bird in the sky.
(a) aren’t looking
(b) not looking
(c) isn’t looking
4 In the background, the sun ______. It looks like a beautiful day.
(a) is shining
(b) shining
(c) are shining
5 Look at the dog in the corner. It ______ with a yellow ball.
(a) playing
(b) play
(c) is playing
6 ______ a good time in this photo? Yes, we are!
(a) Are we having
(b) Do we having
(c) We are having
7 Why ______ so hard in this picture? Because he heard a funny joke.
(a) he is laughing
(b) is he laughing
(c) is he laugh
8 Look at my sister. She ______ next to the swimming pool.
(a) is sitting
(b) is siting
(c) sits
9 In this photo, my parents ______ on the beach and enjoying the sun.
(a) are lieing
(b) are laying
(c) are lying
10 I ______ a book here. I am just resting my eyes.
(a) not reading
(b) am not reading
(c) don’t reading
11 What ______ in her hand? It looks like a beautiful seashell.
(a) is she holding
(b) does she hold
(c) she is holding
12 The kids ______ sandcastles near the water.
(a) are making
(b) is making
(c) are makeing
13 Everybody in this picture ______ a great time!
(a) are having
(b) is having
(c) have
14 In the photo, the wind ______, so our hair is very messy.
(a) blows
(b) blowing
(c) is blowing
15 Notice the two people in the back. They ______ to each other.
(a) are talking
(b) is talking
(c) are talk
16 Who ______ the photo? My uncle is. He is behind the camera.
(a) are taking
(b) takes
(c) is taking
17 Look at the boy on the left. Oh no, he ______ his ice cream!
(a) is dropping
(b) drops
(c) is droping
18 ______ a photo of the sunset? No, he is taking a selfie.
(a) He is taking
(b) Is he taking
(c) Does he take
19 We ______ for the camera because we didn’t know he was taking a picture!
(a) aren’t poseing
(b) don’t pose
(c) aren’t posing
20 It is a funny photo because nobody ______ at the camera!
(a) is looking
(b) are looking
(c) looking
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b) am eating
- Why it’s correct: The subject is “I”, which takes the “am” + V-ing form.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is missing the “be” verb (am). (c) uses “is”, which is for he/she/it.
2 (c) is wearing
- Why it’s correct: “David” (he) is singular, so we use “is” + V-ing. We use Present Continuous to describe clothes someone has on in a photo.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple, which is for routines, not for describing actions captured in a picture. (b) uses “am”, which is only for “I”.
3 (a) aren’t looking
- Why it’s correct: “Mary and Tom” (they) are plural, so the negative continuous form is “are not” (aren’t) + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is missing the “be” verb (are). (c) uses “isn’t”, which is for a singular subject.
4 (a) is shining
- Why it’s correct: “The sun” (it) is singular, so it takes “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is missing the “be” verb. (c) uses “are”, which is for plural subjects.
5 (c) is playing
- Why it’s correct: “The dog” (it) is singular, taking “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) misses the “be” verb. (b) is the base form (Present Simple), which doesn’t fit the context of an action happening in a photo.
6 (a) Are we having
- Why it’s correct: In yes/no questions, the “be” verb (Are) comes before the subject (we).
- Why the others are wrong: (b) incorrectly uses the auxiliary “do” with a V-ing verb. (c) is a statement word order, not a question format.
7 (b) is he laughing
- Why it’s correct: For WH-questions, the structure is WH-word + be + subject + V-ing (Why + is + he + laughing).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) uses statement word order (he is) instead of question word order. (c) is missing the “-ing” on the main verb.
8 (a) is sitting
- Why it’s correct: “Sit” is a one-syllable verb ending in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC). We must double the final consonant before adding “-ing” (sit -> sitting).
- Why the others are wrong: (b) forgets to double the final “t”. (c) is Present Simple.
9 (c) are lying
- Why it’s correct: For verbs ending in “-ie” (like lie), we change the “-ie” to “y” before adding “-ing” (lie -> lying).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is a spelling error. (b) uses the verb “lay” (which means to put something down), changing the meaning entirely.
10 (b) am not reading
- Why it’s correct: The negative form for “I” is “am not” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) misses the “be” verb (am). (c) mixes Present Simple (don’t) with Present Continuous (reading).
11 (a) is she holding
- Why it’s correct: Question word order: WH-word + be + subject + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple (does she hold), which asks about routines, not the current image. (c) uses statement word order.
12 (a) are making
- Why it’s correct: “The kids” is plural, so we use “are”. When a verb ends in a silent ‘e’ (make), we drop the ‘e’ before adding “-ing” (making).
- Why the others are wrong: (b) uses “is” (singular). (c) keeps the silent ‘e’, which is a spelling mistake.
13 (b) is having
- Why it’s correct: Indefinite pronouns like “Everybody”, “Everyone”, “Nobody” take a singular verb in English. Therefore, we use “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) uses the plural “are”, a common mistake for learners who think “everybody” means many people grammatically. (c) is Present Simple.
14 (c) is blowing
- Why it’s correct: “The wind” (it) is an uncountable singular noun, so it takes “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple. (b) is missing the auxiliary verb “is”.
15 (a) are talking
- Why it’s correct: “They” is a plural subject, requiring “are” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) uses the singular “is”. (c) forgets the “-ing” suffix on the main verb.
16 (c) is taking
- Why it’s correct: “Who” functions as a singular subject here, asking about the identity of one person taking the photo, so it takes “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) uses the plural “are”. (b) is Present Simple.
17 (a) is dropping
- Why it’s correct: “Drop” is a CVC verb. We must double the final “p” before adding “-ing” (drop -> dropping).
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) fails to double the final consonant.
18 (b) Is he taking
- Why it’s correct: Yes/No question structure: Be + subject + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is a statement, not a question. (c) is Present Simple, which doesn’t fit describing a frozen moment in a picture.
19 (c) aren’t posing
- Why it’s correct: “Pose” ends in a silent ‘e’, so we drop the ‘e’ before adding “-ing” (posing). The subject “We” takes “are not” (aren’t).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) incorrectly keeps the silent ‘e’. (b) uses the Present Simple negative (don’t).
20 (a) is looking
- Why it’s correct: Just like “everybody”, the pronoun “nobody” is grammatically singular and takes the verb “is”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) uses the plural “are”, which is a common mistake. (c) is missing the “be” verb entirely.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- When to use it: Always use the Present Continuous (am/is/are + V-ing) to describe what is happening in a photograph or a picture. Imagine the photo is coming to life right in front of your eyes!
- Formula: * (+) Subject + am/is/are + V-ing.
- (-) Subject + am/is/are + not + V-ing.
- (?) Am/Is/Are + subject + V-ing?
- Spelling Rules: * Drop the silent -e before adding -ing (make → making).
- Double the final consonant for short, one-syllable verbs ending in Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (sit → sitting, drop → dropping).
- Change -ie to -y (lie → lying).
- Tricky Subjects: Words like everybody, everyone, nobody, no one always take a singular verb (is), even though they refer to multiple people.