A selection of English ESL present simple vs present continuous printables

Test

It is designed for A1-A2 students to improve their grammar in terms of they can study the differences between present simple tense and present continuous tense. In order to revise the tenses students should complete the verbs' correct forms.

Present Simple Tense vs. Present Continuous Tense Exercise

This is an activity designed to deductively teach adult learners how to use the simple present and the present continuous. 

Reading comprehension, grammar, Simple present vs Present continuous (Use)

This is an easy, quickly and understanble explanation in a mind map about the basic similarities and differences between present perfect simple and present perfect continuous.

Present perfect simple vs present perfect continuous, similarities and differences

This lesson focuses on helping students distinguish between the Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses. It is suitable for intermediate-level students who are developing their ability to use tenses correctly in various contexts. Through engaging activities, students will learn how to use the Present Simple to describe habits, routines, and general truths, as well as the Present Continuous for actions happening now, temporary situations, and future arrangements.


The lesson begins with a reading text featuring different people describing their holiday plans, allowing students to see the tenses in context. Students will then complete a series of practice activities, including gap-fills, error correction, and dialogue creation. These activities encourage students to notice the differences between the tenses and apply the rules independently. Additionally, open-ended questions are included to stimulate conversation and personal reflection on students' own habits and plans, providing opportunities for both written and spoken practice.


This lesson is ideal for reinforcing understanding of both tenses, as well as practicing speaking and writing skills. Students will leave with a stronger grasp of when to use each tense and avoid common mistakes.

Holidays Around the World: Present simple vs continuous

This worksheet is designed for B1-B2 level students, aligning with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It focuses on the Present Perfect Simple and Continuous tenses, offering detailed practice and explanations to help students understand and use these forms correctly. The worksheet integrates reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills through a thematic exploration of the impact of smartphones on society. Students begin by engaging with an article on the pros and cons of smartphones, followed by comprehension questions and vocabulary exercises. They then explore various opinions through interviews, which serve as a basis for introducing and practicing the target grammar. The worksheet culminates in a reflective writing activity and a pronunciation practice session. The primary objective is to enable students to accurately use the Present Perfect tenses in various contexts while expanding their vocabulary and improving their fluency. By the end of the worksheet, students will be able to express opinions, discuss technology's influence on their lives, and apply nuanced grammatical structures in both written and spoken communication.

The Impact of Smartphones (Present Perfect Simple vs. Continuous)

Students fill in the blanks with the simple present or the present progressive. Key included. 

Things I'll Never Say by Avril Lavigne (Simple Present vs. Present Progressive)

This test is divided into 4 sections - A: Present tenses, B: Past tenses, C: Past tenses and D:Mixed Tenses.  

It covers all the verb tenses in their simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous forms.  It is a challenging test for advanced students.  :) 

Cumulative Tense Test

all the English language tenses are explained in a table with their use, form, key words, and examples.  
This document can be used by student and Teachers and for different Level of Learners as well.

All Tenses explained (Form, Use, Key words, Examples)

Grammar-based themed worksheet aimed at practising the use of the present simple vs present continuous, speaking, listening, asking for clarification, asking to repeat, note-taking, short presentations or talking in front of the class and writing a paragraph. Fully editable, printer-friendly colours (background colour does not print) and plain vanilla version (without any colour or clip art) included on 2nd page. Answer key provided. NOTE: If you want students to practise more listening you could cut the ws into two halves (or use 2 wss) and let Ss interview each other without them having seen the questions beforehand (pair work). Also, you could use more of these worksheets and do a group work exercise.

Grammar Meets Conversation: I do vs I´m doing (8) - Asking for Information

It's a game to practice the simple present using daily activities as vocabulary. My students liked it so much. It's very simple to play. The teacher choose one student that will begin. After, the others students will add their cards according to the picture or the sentence. The first student that put all his/her cards in the game wins!
I hope you like it!

Domino DAILY ROUTINE - Kids

This ws consists of different exercises to practice forming and using the present simple and continuous

Present simple and continuous

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>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

745 Present Simple vs Present Continuous English ESL worksheets pdf & doc