Present Continuous Tense – English Grammar Exercises for A1
You are standing by the window, looking outside. A friend or family member is getting ready to leave the house. You need to observe the current weather or situation and give them practical advice (like taking an umbrella or driving carefully) based on what is happening right now.
Choose the best option to complete each sentence.
1 Take your umbrella! It ______ outside.
(a) rains
(b) is raining
(c) are raining
2 Put on a warm coat. It ______ very cold today.
(a) is getting
(b) is geting
(c) gets
3 Look at the sky! The sun ______, so you should wear your sunglasses.
(a) shines
(b) is shineing
(c) is shining
4 Don’t go out without your boots. It ______ heavily right now.
(a) is snowing
(b) snows
(c) am snowing
5 Be careful! The wind ______ really hard today.
(a) blows
(b) blowing
(c) is blowing
6 Drive slowly on the bridge. The roads ______.
(a) is freezing
(b) are freezing
(c) freeze
7 You should stay inside. A big storm ______.
(a) comes
(b) is comeing
(c) is coming
8 Take a taxi to the station. Everyone ______ for the bus in the rain, and the line is huge!
(a) is waiting
(b) wait
(c) are waiting
9 You don’t need a heavy jacket anymore. The weather ______ better.
(a) is getting
(b) gets
(c) is geting
10 Wear your scarf. The leaves ______ off the trees because of the strong wind.
(a) are falling
(b) fall
(c) is falling
11 Be careful on your bike. The cars ______ very fast in the rain.
(a) drive
(b) are driving
(c) are driveing
12 Let’s wait a few minutes before we leave. It ______ very hard right now.
(a) is pouring
(b) pours
(c) pouring
13 You can leave your umbrella at home. It ______ right now.
(a) doesn’t rain
(b) aren’t raining
(c) isn’t raining
14 Put on some sunscreen. The sun ______ very hot today.
(a) are burning
(b) is burning
(c) burns
15 Hurry up and get inside! Dark clouds ______, and I hear thunder.
(a) are gathering
(b) gather
(c) is gathering
16 Watch your step outside! The snow ______ into ice.
(a) is turning
(b) turns
(c) are turning
17 You should change your shoes. The water ______ deep in the street.
(a) gets
(b) is get
(c) is getting
18 “______ outside?” “No, but it looks like it will soon. Leave your raincoat here.”
(a) Is it raining
(b) Does it rain
(c) It is raining
19 Don’t open the window! The dust ______ everywhere because of the construction.
(a) flies
(b) are flying
(c) is flying
20 Stay away from the trees. The lightning ______ really close!
(a) is striking
(b) strikes
(c) is strikeing
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b) is raining
- Why it’s correct: “It” takes “is” + V-ing. The advice “Take your umbrella!” means the rain is happening right now.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple (a habit), which does not fit an immediate warning. (c) incorrectly uses “are” with the singular pronoun “it”.
2 (a) is getting
- Why it’s correct: “It” takes “is”. “Get” is a short Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) word, so we double the “t” (getting).
- Why the others are wrong: (c) is Present Simple. (b) is a spelling error because it forgets to double the “t”.
3 (c) is shining
- Why it’s correct: “The sun” (it) takes “is”. The verb “shine” drops the silent “e” to become “shining”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple. (b) is a spelling error because it keeps the silent “e”.
4 (a) is snowing
- Why it’s correct: “It” takes “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) incorrectly uses “am”, which is only for the subject “I”.
5 (c) is blowing
- Why it’s correct: “The wind” is singular, so it takes “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple. (b) is missing the auxiliary verb “is”.
6 (b) are freezing
- Why it’s correct: “The roads” is plural, so we must use “are” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (c) is Present Simple. (a) incorrectly uses the singular “is”.
7 (c) is coming
- Why it’s correct: “A big storm” is singular, taking “is”. “Come” drops the silent “e” to become “coming”.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple. (b) is a spelling error (comeing).
8 (a) is waiting
- Why it’s correct: The pronoun “Everyone” is grammatically singular, so it takes “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (c) uses “are”, which is a very common trap for learners. (b) is Present Simple.
9 (a) is getting
- Why it’s correct: “The weather” is an uncountable singular noun, so it takes “is”. We double the “t” in “getting”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) forgets to double the “t”.
10 (a) are falling
- Why it’s correct: “The leaves” is plural, so it requires “are” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) uses the singular “is”.
11 (b) are driving
- Why it’s correct: “The cars” is plural, taking “are”. “Drive” drops the silent “e” (driving).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple. (c) is a spelling error (driveing).
12 (a) is pouring
- Why it’s correct: “It” takes “is” + V-ing. (“Pouring” means raining very heavily).
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) is missing the “be” verb.
13 (c) isn’t raining
- Why it’s correct: This is a negative observation. “It” takes “is not” (isn’t) + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is the Present Simple negative. (b) incorrectly uses the plural “aren’t”.
14 (b) is burning
- Why it’s correct: “The sun” takes “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (c) is Present Simple. (a) uses the plural “are”.
15 (a) are gathering
- Why it’s correct: “Dark clouds” is plural, requiring “are” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) uses the singular “is”.
16 (a) is turning
- Why it’s correct: “The snow” is an uncountable noun (singular), so it takes “is” + V-ing.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) uses the plural “are”.
17 (c) is getting
- Why it’s correct: “The water” is uncountable (singular). It takes “is”, and “get” doubles the “t” (getting).
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple. (b) is missing the “-ing” suffix.
18 (a) Is it raining
- Why it’s correct: This is a Yes/No question. The structure is Be + Subject + V-ing (Is + it + raining?).
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is a Present Simple question. (c) uses statement word order instead of question word order.
19 (c) is flying
- Why it’s correct: “The dust” is an uncountable noun (singular), taking “is” + V-ing. Verbs ending in “y” just take “-ing” directly.
- Why the others are wrong: (a) is Present Simple. (b) uses the plural “are”.
20 (a) is striking
- Why it’s correct: “The lightning” is an uncountable noun (singular), taking “is”. “Strike” drops the silent “e” to become “striking”.
- Why the others are wrong: (b) is Present Simple. (c) is a spelling error (strikeing).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Grammar Function (Observation & Advice): When you look out a window and give someone advice (like Take an umbrella! or Drive safely!), you are reacting to something happening right now. You must use the Present Continuous to describe the weather or the environment in these situations. Do not use the Present Simple.
- Uncountable Nature Nouns: Weather words like snow, rain, weather, water, dust, and lightning are uncountable. In English grammar, uncountable nouns are always treated as singular. Always use “is” with them (e.g., The snow is turning into ice).
- Spelling Reminders:
- Double the letter: get → getting.
- Drop the ‘e’: shine → shining, come → coming, drive → driving, strike → striking.
- Everyone = Singular: Remember that words like “Everyone” or “Everybody” always take the singular verb “is“, not “are”.