Present continuous. Affirmative, negative and interrogative form. (first part)

Presentation

In this section you will find some short texts in Present Progressive. This tense is important when you communicate because you can describe actions that are happening in the precise moment that we are speaking. We will practice how the verb formation is; you will find some exercises to understand this structure. Finally, you will find some written activities to help you to develop a short text where you can describe what is happening at the moment you are speaking.

In general this is what you will work:

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Objective

At the end of the course the student will:
Practice the present progressive form through using some sentences as well as some texts to denote an action that is happening in the precise moment.

Present progressive: affirmative, negative and interrogative.

We use the present progressive for actions that are happening at the moment of speaking.
 Look at the following information on how to use the Present Progressive.



Now that you identified the use of the Present Progressive for actions that are happening now.
There are some rules that you have to take in consideration.

Read the following information:

Exercise


Reading

Activity 1

A rainy Saturday
Chalet

NA. (2014). [Image]. Retrieved from:: https://pixabay.com/es/casas-chalet-adosado-casas-adosadas-258377/

Read about Mary and her family and find out what they are doing in a rainy Saturday. Read the following text carefully.

Match the name of the character with the action the person is doing.

Activity 1
Rainy Saturday

It’s a rainy Saturday. It’s raining a lot and Mary and her family are spending the afternoon at home. Her uncle and aunt are visiting them. Mary and her father are in the living room. Mary is making a draw about her father and Mr. Harris, is reading a book.

Mary’s older brother, Peter, is in his bedroom playing computer games. He is a computer fanatic and he spends much time playing on the computer. His little brother, Jim is also in the living room. He is playing with his dinosaurs’ collection.

Mary’s mother, Mrs. Harris, is in the kitchen preparing a snack for all of them. She is making some tea and talking to Mary’s uncle and aunt. Their names are:

Lucy and Tom. They are from the nearest town and stopped by to say hello. In this moment, they are helping her mother to prepare the snacks.

Fluffy, the family cat, is sleeping on the kitchen’s sofa. No, that’s not right, it is on Mary’s bed, and this is its favorite place to sleep.

Adapted by: Borja, L. (2016)


Reading

Activity 2

Penpals letters

Writing to a Penpal is interesting because you do not know what he or she is going to describe to you.

Read the following letters and find out what they are doing in their vacation.

Activity 2

huatulco
montreal



Listening

Activity 3

Crazy situations

Every day we have different activities to do, they can happen in the park at home or at the beach.

Listen to the three different situations and select the option that corresponds to each person.

Doodle


Escritorio
Hotel



Activity 3

Listening

Activity 4

I’m having a good time

When we travel we sometimes write letters to our friends describing how we are having a good time in that place.

Listen to Susan describing how well she is spending a time in Tokyo, Japan. Then read the sentences and decide if they are True or False.

Tokio

Mark, D. (2017). Tokio. [Image]. Retrieved from:
https://pixabay.com/es/kyoto-jap%C3%B3n-monta%C3%B1as-pagoda-templo-2315424/




Activity 4

Writing

Activity 5.

What are they doing in this moment!

Sometimes people have different schedules depending on their profession. The present progressive indicates what someone is doing at a specific moment along the day.

Read the following sentences about Joe and Tammy and discover how different their days are.

People

Wikimediaimages. (2015). Teacher. Retrieved from:
https://pixabay.com/es/birger-kollmeier-profesor-pizarra-910261/ Voltamax. (2017).
Nurse. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/es/enfermera-estetoscopio-medicina-2141808/

Activity 5

Writing

Activity 6

My vacation

As you can realize, we can describe several activities that we are doing in a certain time.
Now you can write a postcard in order to describe what you are doing now.

Today you are on vacation in Cancún and it’s a sunny day and you are having fun. Look at all what is happening now. Send a postcard to a friend and write: where you are, what the weather is like, what you and others are doing.

You have here a model to follow in order to develop your own postcard. Use the following lines to use as an example to complete.

Look at this example:

postcard

Please, before you write your description, make sure it has the characteristics contained in the following rubrics to get your own evaluation.


Speaking

Activity 7

Hyde Park

Look at the people in Hyde Park, a very famous park in England. Look at the image and the list of activities there are described, record only those sentences which are true.


Hyde Park

Stillwell, S. (2016). Paddle: People cool off in the Diana Princess of Wales
Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park as the sun beats down.
Retrieved from: https://goo.gl/TnzjTZ

List of activities:

    1. There is a man lying on the grass.
    2. There are some ducks swimming.
    3. There are some kids playing with a dog.
    4. There is a little boy eating an ice cream.
    5. The baby is sleeping.
    6. The old man is listening to music.
    7. There is a woman wearing a red swimming suit.
    8. There is a man taking a picture.
    9. There is a dog running.
    10. There is a man selling ice cream.



Listen to the following example.


Speaking

Activity 8

Your description

Now, it's your turn to describe what people are doing from a famous place or a personal picture.

Select only one:
A. a famous place.
 B. a personal picture.

Don't forget to mention at least 10 sentences. Begin with an introduction, mention your sentences and at the end use the word "finally" to inform that you are about to finish.


Ballesteros, A. (2016)

Check the following section to decide if you are doing a good work:

When you finish, use the following rubric to self-evaluate your speaking activity.


Rubric

Self-Assessment

Dictation

You are going to listen to a man saying some sentences. Listen carefully and complete the sentences.

To hear audio click here:

audio

 

Scramble sentences

Now it is your turn to unscramble the sentences. Remember that you make sentences with the verb to be + the following verb adding ING.

 


 

References

Basic references

  • Craven, M. (2013). Breakthrough Plus. Thailand: Macmillan
  • Evans, V., Dooley, J. (2009). Up Load 1. Mexico: Express Publishing.
  • Soars, L., Soars, J. (2015). American Headway Starter. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
  • Mitchell, H.Q. (2008). Let’s Speed up 1. United States: MM Publications.

Complementary references