ESL Grammar: PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE (1) – Introduction

This ESL grammar worksheet introduces students to the present continuous tense (present progressive tense), which is used to talk about “right now”. In this worksheet, students practice correcting the errors in several present continuous sentences.

This lesson will help you understand and practice using the present continuous tense to describe actions happening right now or around the present time.

ESL Grammar: Understanding the Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense, also known as the present progressive tense, is used to describe:

• Actions happening at the moment of speaking: I am eating breakfast.
• Actions happening around the current period of time: She is studying for her exams this week.
• Future plans or arrangements: They are meeting us tomorrow.

ESL Grammar: Forming the Present Continuous Tense

Structure:

• Affirmative: Subject + am/is/are + verb + -ing
  • I am eating.
  • He/She/It is eating.
  • We/You/They are eating.

The English grammar lesson below introduces the present continuous tense in a clear and simple manner that is easy for beginner English learners to understand. Our series of ESL grammar lessons on subjects and verbs introduce these concepts and reinforce them through helpful and instructive exercises.

This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many more English grammar lessons focusing on basic English tenses (present tense, present continuous tense, past tense, future tense) in our comprehensive, beginner-level ESL grammar textbook Great, Great Grammar! (Book 2: Tenses).