Present Continuous · Exercises
B2Upper intermediate practice
Temporary situations, trends and “always” complaints.
Play
- Practice10 exercises at your own pace
- Time Attack60 seconds, as many as you can
- Survival3 lives, harder as you go
- Tense SortDrag sentences into their tense — 60 seconds
- Timelines10 sentences to match to their timelines
- B2 Boss12 hits before you lose 3 lives
- Irregular MatchPair verbs with their past forms — 60 seconds
Want to mix tenses, go endless or pick exercise types? Set up your own session.
What you’ll practise at B2
- Spelling: making, running, lying
- Negatives: isn’t / aren’t / ’m not
- Questions: Are you…?
- Short answers
- What are you doing? (wh- questions)
- Present simple or continuous?
- State verbs (know, want, think…)
- Future arrangements (I’m meeting…)
- Temporary situations and trends
- Annoying habits: always + -ing
- Passive: is being done
- Timelines: what the tense means
Need a refresher? Learn the present continuous: rules, tables and audio examples.
Sample exercises
A taste of what’s inside. In practice mode every exercise is freshly generated.
Choose the correct form.
Your cooking _____ (get) better and better.
Show answer
Your cooking is getting better and better.
Use the present continuous for changing situations and trends (getting warmer, going up).
Put the words in order to make a statement.
always / me / interrupting / are / you
Show answer
You are always interrupting me.
be + always + -ing shows that a repeated habit annoys you: He’s always losing his keys! “Always” goes after am / is / are.
Put the words in order to make a question.
what / is / sister / little / my / learning
Show answer
What is my little sister learning?
Wh-questions: question word + am / is / are + subject + -ing? What are you doing?
Which sentence matches the timeline?
(Timeline: In progress around now)
Show answer
I am reading a book about Japan.
“am reading” is the present continuous (am / is / are + -ing): in progress around now.
Is this sentence correct?
My little sister is understanding the rules.
Show answer
My little sister understands the rules.
“is understanding” should be “understands”. “understand” is a state verb: use the present simple (understands), not the continuous.
Turn the sentence into a question.
My colleagues are washing the car at this very moment.
Show answer
Are my colleagues washing the car at this very moment?
Questions: Am / Is / Are + subject + -ing. Are my colleagues washing the car?