Grammar: Present Continuous Worksheet (A1)
A printable A1 grammar worksheet on the present continuous: building the form, the spelling of -ing, negatives and questions, and choosing between the present simple and the present continuous. Five tasks, a full answer key and teacher's notes.
About this worksheet
This is the tense for what is happening now, in front of the learner, which makes it the easiest tense to teach and the easiest to practise: everything in the room is available as an example.
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Grammar: Present Continuous · Level A1 · About 35 minutes
Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________
How to build it
The form is two parts: am, is or are, then the verb with -ing. I am working. He is reading. They are waiting. Both parts are needed - He reading and He is read are both wrong.
Short forms are normal in speech: I'm working, he's reading, they're waiting, we aren't listening, she isn't coming.
Negatives put not in the middle: I am not working. She is not (isn't) coming. We are not (aren't) listening.
Questions turn the first two words round: Are you working? Is he reading? What are they doing? Answer short: Yes, I am. No, he isn't.
Spelling of -ing: most verbs just add it - work - working. Verbs ending in one -e drop it: write - writing, make - making. One short vowel and one consonant at the end doubles the consonant: sit - sitting, run - running, swim - swimming.
Now, not always. Use the present continuous for what is happening at this moment, and the present simple for what happens every day: I am eating rice (now) but I eat rice every day (always).
Task 1. Write the -ing form
Write the -ing form of each verb. Be careful with the spelling.
Example: work → working
- read → ________ · write → ________ · sit → ________
- run → ________ · make → ________ · play → ________
- swim → ________ · come → ________ · study → ________
Task 2. Am, is or are?
Complete each sentence with am, is or are and the verb in brackets.
Example: She is reading a book. (read)
- I ________ to the radio. (listen)
- They ________ football in the garden. (play)
- My mother ________ dinner. (cook)
- We ________ for the bus. (wait)
- The baby ________ . (sleep)
- You ________ very fast! (write)
Task 3. Negatives and questions
Make each sentence negative, then make a question from it.
Example: He is watching television. → Negative: He isn't watching television. Question: Is he watching television?
- They are studying English. → ________________________ / ________________________
- She is wearing a red dress. → ________________________ / ________________________
- I am sitting in the right seat. → ________________________ / ________________________
- The children are playing outside. → ________________________ / ________________________
Task 4. Now or every day?
Choose the right form: present simple or present continuous.
Example: Look! It is raining. (rain)
- I ________ to school every morning. (walk)
- Be quiet - the baby ________ . (sleep)
- My father ________ in a bank. (work)
- What ________ you ________ at the moment? (do)
- We usually ________ dinner at seven. (have)
- She can't come to the phone. She ________ a shower. (have)
Task 5. Your turn
Look around you. Write six sentences about what people near you are doing right now. Use a different verb each time.
- ____________________________________________
- ____________________________________________
- ____________________________________________
- ____________________________________________
- ____________________________________________
- ____________________________________________
For the teacher: answer key
| Task | Answers |
|---|---|
| Task 1 | reading; writing; sitting. running; making; playing. swimming; coming; studying. |
| Task 2 | 1 am listening 2 are playing 3 is cooking 4 are waiting 5 is sleeping 6 are writing |
| Task 3 | 1 They aren't studying English. / Are they studying English? 2 She isn't wearing a red dress. / Is she wearing a red dress? 3 I'm not sitting in the right seat. / Am I sitting in the right seat? 4 The children aren't playing outside. / Are the children playing outside? |
| Task 4 | 1 walk 2 is sleeping 3 works 4 are ... doing 5 have 6 is having |
| Task 5 | Answers will vary. Check both parts of the form - is or are plus -ing - and the spelling of any doubled consonant. |
Teacher's notes
- Timing: Tasks 1 to 4 take about 25 minutes; Task 5 about 10.
- Teach it standing up. Mime an action and ask What am I doing? Four or five actions and the whole class has the form before any writing. This tense does not need a text.
- The missing verb to be is the error to watch. He reading is what learners produce for months, because many languages need no equivalent. Insist on both parts from the first lesson, and point at the two parts on the board every time.
- Spelling is half the marks lost. Siting, runing, writeing: do Task 1 before anything else and check it as a class.
- Task 4 is the hard one, and it is worth the time. The question to ask each item is now, or always? Learners who ask that question get it right; learners who look for a keyword do not.
- Extension: one learner mimes, the class writes the sentence. Ten actions, ten sentences, and every one is a real answer about something they can see.
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About this worksheet
Written by RCF English to the RCF English international standard: levelled by the CEFR, original throughout, and suitable for classrooms in any country. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.