Present Continuous Exercises: Practice and Master

What are the best Present Continuous tense exercises?

The trick to getting the most out of your grammar sessions for learning English is selecting the appropriate resources. Present Continuous tense activities work best when they’re fast, hands-on, and focused on how people actually speak. Below, you’ll find top-rated Present Continuous exercises with answers that tick all the boxes.

• Fill in the blanks (short dialogues). This Present Continuous tense exercise is ideal for learning sentence structure while practicing realistic conversations. You’ll not only focus on verb forms but also catch on to natural time expressions and flow.

  Here’s a simple example you might come across:

  A: What ___ you ___ (do) right now?

  B: I ___ (make) a sandwich.

  It’s a perfect way to reinforce positive forms, questions, and context-based vocabulary. You also start spotting time clues like right now, at the moment, or currently — all markers of Present Continuous.

• Multiple choice. A classic method for a reason. Such Present Continuous exercise trains your attention to detail and helps you choose the correct verb form using grammar logic and time references. Take this one:

  Choose the correct option:

  Look! She ___ to someone on the phone.

  a) talks
  b) talk
  c) is talking 
  d) talked

  You’ll quickly get used to spotting when the continuous form is appropriate and avoid mixing it up with other tenses.

• Yes/No sentences. Yes/No Present Continuous tense exercises with answers make you more comfortable switching between forms and reacting fast in spoken English. They’re especially helpful when dealing with practices in listening and speaking. For example:

   

  Q: Are you watching that new series tonight?

   

  A: Yes, I am / No, I am not.

  These drills are simple but powerful—they push you to respond quickly and naturally using Present Continuous structures.

• Word order correction. Present Continuous can look tricky at first, especially with questions. Rearranging jumbled words helps lock in the right sentence flow. Like this:

  Arrange the words:

  is / she / piano / playing / the

  Correct answer:

   

  She is playing the piano.

This style of assignments helps you internalize sentence patterns: positive, negative, and interrogative, without memorizing rules blindly.

What’s included in a standard Present Continuous test?

The format of a Present Continuous tense test usually reflects what you’re aiming to improve using Koto English — accuracy, fluency, or speed. Most often, you’ll be working with short tasks that focus on context, structure, and time awareness.

• Gap-fill activity. A common feature in the Present Continuous tense practice is the abovementioned fill-in-the-blank exercise, where you complete short sentences using the correct verb form. It checks how naturally you can apply the be + verb-ing structure in situations like:

  Right now, they ___ (cook) dinner.

  Answer: are cooking

• Paraphrasing tasks. Another popular format is rephrasing sentences, which requires you to change one sentence into another without losing its meaning. It helps you get comfortable with variations and shifts between tenses. For example:

  Before:
  

   

  She writes emails.

  After:
  

   

  She is writing emails now.

• Turn into a question. You might also get a section of Present Continuous questions exercises titled Form a question, where your job is to turn a regular sentence into a grammatically correct question. To illustrate:

  Sentence:

   

  They are dancing together.

  Your answer:

   

  What are they doing?

• Action-based prompts. Lastly, some tests include short writing prompts or sentence creation based on a photo, theme, or time reference. These let you put the Present Continuous into action in a more expressive way, no guessing, just you forming meaningful content. You might see a prompt like:

  Your task:

   

  Describe what’s happening in the park.

  Your answer:

   

  People are jogging, and kids are playing on the swings.

How to pass the Present Continuous practice easily?

To succeed in the Present Continuous tense practice, comes from concentrating on actions happening in the moment. Here are some useful tips:

What are the common mistakes in the Present Continuous quizzes?

Errors in the exercises on the Present Continuous typically stem from misunderstandings of signal language, time, or structure. These mistakes might hinder your fluency and have an impact on your test scores.

One typical challenge is mixing up the tenses, especially with the Present Simple. Learners often forget that the Present Continuous is about actions happening right now. For example:

Another frequent slip involves missing the -ing form of the main verb. The continuous tense demands it, but it’s easy to overlook under pressure:

Confusion can also come from time markers. Words like “now,” “currently,” or “right this second” work with the Present Continuous. But mixing them with the wrong tense leads to awkward sentences:

The order of to be + verb-ing matters too. Rearranging it incorrectly leads to major grammar gaps:

It becomes simpler to stay in the proper tense and to pass each exam or test you take after you learn to recognize these typical patterns.

Why regular practice with Present Continuous activities is important?

Regular engagement with Present Continuous online exercises strengthens your grasp of ongoing action in English. As you work through different tasks, it becomes second nature to recognize situations unfolding at the moment, and before long, you’ll express them fluently: in casual talks, classroom discussions, or during tests.