A selection of English ESL present continuous tense printables

Please upvote if you like this ws.  This worksheet puts the simple past and the present perfect simple SIDE BY SIDE so that students can compare them.  The verb TO BE is highlighted in both forms as it is also used to form the Past Continuous and the Present Perfect Continuous.  Examples are given on the second page and words which are helpful in indicating which form to use are evidenced by colour.  Colour codes help students to recognize and memorise different structures more easily.

SIMPLE PAST/PRESENT PERFECT Side by side

This worksheet can help primary school students see the difference between present simple and present continuous.

A student should complete the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

It the first exercise you should writhe the verbs either in present simple or present continuous form (it is stated in which one). In the exercises 2 and 3 students should decide themselves which of he two tenses to use and than complete the gaps.

I hope my worksheet will de useful for you!

Present Simple and Present Continuos

An overview of Past, Present and Future, Simple, Continuous and Perfect tenses, with examples and timelines. Gives students and visual, general look at how English works. There is a thick black line around part of the tenses, as I consider them to be those necessary for proper communication and tend not to insist on the others! 



You'll remark that I haven't included the perfect continuous, which was on purpose because I find them confusing and complicated, as well as unnecessary, for the majority of learners!

Verb Tense Overview

This worksheets practices present continuous and present perfect. The students look at the pictures and say if the things are happening or have just happened using present continuous or present perfect according to the situation.

If you want to practice more, you can find more of my worksheets about the same topic here

https://en.islcollective.com/mypage/my-creations?search_key=Present+perfect&type=printables&option=published&id=5163&grammar=&vocabulary=&materials=&levels=&studentTypes=&skills=&languageExams=&dialect=&functions=&page=1&sorting_type=most_newest&filter_type=filter_all&view_type=list&view_length=12





Things are happening or have just happened?

 Please up-vote if you like this ws.  This is the horizontal construction of my TIME RELATED VERB CONSTRUCTIONS worksheet.  More examples are given and I have tried to make the colour scheme and the explanations more consistent.  There are more pages to print, but hopefully it is easier to follow.

TIME RELATED VERB CONSTRUCTIONS - horizontal

student read the text and put the name of the person next to the corect picture then they put the questions in order and answer them we are practisingn the present continuous tense hope its useful  hugs 

what are they doing

One of those crazy pictures where you have to spot what is wrong. Good for practising the present continuous tense in a fun way. On page 2, there is a list of 20 things which are strange. 

Picture description exercise: crazy kitchen!

A very busy picture of a park, an apartment block and a street! They have to put the verbs given into the present continuous tense. There is a lot going on in the picture to talk about. 

Picture description exercise

The objective is to make your students show general understanding of the song, learn new vocabulary and have fun. I use this song to practice the present continuous tense. It's an awesome song and kids love it.

Listening: Lemon tree by fools garden. Worksheet. Present Continuous

This set of 5 funny situations will help your students practise the usage of Present Continuous tense with annoying habits. They work in pairs nd role play the given situations. 

Hope they like it and have fun!

Funny situations Part 2 - Annoying habits (Present Continuous)

An excellent picture, with 2 exercises. First there is a true or false exercise. Then, they read the sentences, put the verb into the present continuous tense and say which number it is. A key is provided. 

What are they doing? 

A beach side scene with a true or false activity. The focus is 'there is/there are' and the present continuous tense. The picture is from Ravensberger puzzles and thanks to them for permission to use it. 

Carnival Day

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

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3,204 Present Continuous Tense English ESL worksheets pdf & doc