Present Continuous
100% Original Practice Test
Describe what people are doing now as a harbour team prepares a floating garden display. Study the guide, practise 44 questions, then use what you know in four short speaking tasks.
Your Quick Grammar Guide
Our helpers are making a floating garden: plants on a raft on the water.
Use the present continuous for an action happening now or around now. First find who or what is doing the action; then choose am, is or are. A harbour is a safe place by the sea where boats stop. Floating means resting or moving on top of water.
1. How to Form It
Say what is happening
Positive: subject + am / is / are + verb-ing.
I am filling a small pot.
Nora is painting a sign.
We are carrying fresh soil.
Use am with I, is with he / she / it or one person or thing, and are with you / we / they or more than one.
Say what is not happening
Negative: subject + am / is / are + not + verb-ing.
I am not lifting the heavy box.
The boat is not moving fast.
The helpers are not using the red paint.
You can use contractions: I’m not, isn’t and aren’t. Use I’m not for the short negative form with I.
Make the -ing form
Most verbs add -ing: paint → painting, help → helping.
For a silent final e, usually drop it: make → making, use → using.
For one-syllable verbs ending in one vowel letter + one consonant, often double the final consonant: sit → sitting, run → running. Do not double final w, x or y: row → rowing, fix → fixing, play → playing.
For a verb ending in ie, change it to y: tie → tying. Keep a final y in other verbs: carry → carrying, fly → flying.
These are helpful spelling patterns. Check the verb when its spelling does not fit a simple pattern.
Question preview
Question: am / is / are + subject + verb-ing?
Is the boat moving slowly?
Put the form of be before the subject. You will practise questions in Unit 4; this test practises positive and negative statements.
2. Clue Words & Patterns
Words that point to now
now right now at the moment Look!
Look! The neighbours are moving the pots. The word Look! invites us to notice an action happening now.
Right now, the gull is sitting on the post.
One moment or a usual activity?
Now: We are putting the plants on the raft.
Usually: We put the plants in this garden every spring.
The first sentence describes an action in progress. The second describes something that happens regularly.
3. Watch Out & Common Mistakes
Do not leave out be
Wrong: I carrying a bucket.
Better: I am carrying a bucket.
The present continuous needs both parts: a form of be and a verb ending in -ing.
Match be to the subject
Wrong: The helpers is moving the pots.
Better: The helpers are moving the pots.
Helpers means more than one person, so use are.
Keep both parts for an action in progress
Wrong: She is paint the sign.
Better: She is painting the sign.
To describe this action in progress, use is + painting. The verb needs its -ing form.
Check the spelling change
Wrong: He is makeing a label.
Better: He is making a label.
Drop the silent e in make before adding -ing.
Try three quick self-checks — no points
Complete: The little boat ___ (move) now.
is moving. Boat is one thing, so use is. Drop the silent e in move before -ing.
Choose the correct sentence: The children is planting. / The children are planting.
The children are planting. Children is plural, so use are + planting.
Complete the negative: I ___ not ___ (carry) the large box.
am not carrying. Use am with I, put not after am, and add -ing to carry.
Before you begin: find the subject, choose am / is / are, add not if needed, and check the verb’s -ing spelling.
Speaking: make it personal
Listen to each model, repeat it, then change the details to tell your own story. Speaking practice is for self-assessment and adds no points to the 44-question test.
Practice 1
Say what you are doing now to help the floating garden. Name one object.
Read the model
I'm carrying a blue bucket to the pier.
Practice 2
Say what one helper is doing and what another helper is not doing.
Read the model
Nora is tying the cloth. Ben isn't painting the sign.
Practice 3
Look around you. Say one action happening now and one action that is not happening now.
Read the model
We are working together. We aren't planting flowers at the moment.
Practice 4
Give a short update about the garden team and the small boat.
Read the model
The helpers are putting pots on the raft. The boat is moving slowly.
Ready to check your work?
Submit to grade your whole test, OR use 👁 Show Answer per part / per question.
Learning review: what can you do now?
Can you match am, is or are to the subject and add an -ing verb? Can you describe an action happening now and make a negative sentence? Describe three things happening around you.