Exercises of Present Continuous

• These are the exercises for present continuous. Read the explanation first.

A.      Fill in the blanks with the present continuous tense of the verbs in brackets.

1.       Listen! Someone ____(shout) in the next room.

2.       Look! The dog ____ (chase) the postman.

3.       The tap ___ still ___ (run). Please go and turn it off.

4.       Hurry up! Your friends ___ (wait) for you outside.

5.       Someone ___ (call) for you outside. Open the door and see who it is.

6.       The gardener ___ (mow) the lawn now.

7.       Don’t disturb him. He ___ (do) his homework.

8.       I want to lose weight. I ___ (not/eat) anything today.

9.       Excuse me. I ___ (look) for a phone box. Can you tell me where it is?

10.     You ___ (make) a lot of noise. Can you be a bit quieter?
11.     Look! It ______ (snow)
12.     Please be quiet. I _____ (try) to concentrate
13.     Why ____ (you/look) at me like that? Have I said something wrong?
14.     Excuse me, I ____ (look) for a phone box. Is there one near here?
15.     I want to lose weight. I ____ ( not/eat) anything today.
16.     (in the cinema) It's a good film, isn't it? ___ (you/enjoy) it?
17.     Listen! Can you hear those people next door? The ____ (shout) at each other again.
18.     Why ____ (you/wear) your coat today? It's very warm.
19.     I _____ ( not/work) this week. I'm on holiday.
20.     I can't hear what you ____ (say). The traffic ____ (make) too much noise.

B.     Change the sentences into negative and interrogative. Use the words in brackets.

Example:

My mother is cooking. (sew) My mother is not sewing. Is my mother sewing?

1.       The boy is playing with his toy. (sleep)

2.       We are studying English. (Chemistry)7.

5.       The manager is working. (have lunch)

6.      I am waiting for the bus. (the train)

7.      The dog is eating your socks. (its bones)

8.      The boys are flying kites. (play football)

9.      The baby is smiling. (cry)

10.    The guest is checking in. (check out)

C.      Make questions so that the underlined words would be the answers.

1.       The children are eating snake fruit.

2.       The guest is talking to the bell boy now.

3.       The guests are sitting in the lobby.

4.       Mr. Brown is making a long distance call.

5.       The tall man is chatting with the manager.

6.       The boy is crying because he is hungry.

7.       The cat is licking its paws.

8.       The man is looking for Mr. Handoko’s house.

9.       The man is walking slowly.

10.    They are talking about the mysterious killing.

.

D.     Choose only one best answer.

       1. Susi is stil ill, but I hope she ....... better now.

       a. would                  b. got                 c. is getting                d. has been getting

2.  Jonny      : May I borrow your newspaper?

     Zuhaida  :  I'm sorry, my sister ...... it.

a. is reading              b.  will read        c. was reading           d. has been reading

3. Please be quiet. The baby .............                                    

a. is sleeping             b. sleeps             c. slept.                    d. was sleeping                           

4. My family and I ......... a comedy at present.

a. are watched           b. watch             c. watched                 d. are watching

5. At present, Mr. Zulasmi ......... on a road                                                                            

a. is worked              b. work              c. is working             d. will work                                                    

6. Listen ! Puti  ............... in the bathroom

a. is singing              b. sings              c. sing                      d. was singing

        

7. Look !  Delon ....... a song.                                                                                                 

a. sing                      b. is singing        c.  sing                     d.  has sung                               

         

8. What are you ..................?

a. write                     b. writing           c. writes                   d. wrote

 9. Your father is in his room, he ...........                                                                              

 a. sleeps                   b. slept              c. was sleeping         d. isn't sleeping               

       10. Some teachers ............ in that school at this moment.
        a. teaches                  b. teach             c. are teaching          d. have been teaching

[References:

Sesa, Leonardus (2000) English Workbook, Makassar

Murphy, Raymond (1985) English Grammar in Use, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Thomson, A.J & Martinet, A.V (1961) A Practical English Grammar, Oxford, Oxford University Press]