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Lesson 8 - Clothes
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This page: The present continuous in English, the present participle, the verb “wear”

They are walking.
They are walking.
 

Present Continuous in English
Grammar

The present continuous is used to describe what is happening right now. Since it includes the verb to be, negatives and questions are formed in the same way as with the verb to be. (Review the verb to be)

    I am walking.

    He is walking.
    She is walking.

    They are walking.
    You are walking.
    We are walking.

 

Video - Present Continuous

Watch a video from "The English Minute" that teaches how to form the present continuous tense in English. The English Minute (www.theenglishminute.com) is a website with short lessons that you can study on your mobile phone.

 

Exercise - Sentences in the present continuous tense

Write the verbs in the present continuous tense. Write the verbs without contraction, as in the example. Make sure you have correctly capitalized the letters and included the period at the end.

example
He/watch TV

1.  He/play soccer

2.  We/listen to the radio

3.  You/go to the library

4.  I/cook lunch

5.  They/sleep

 

Now write negative sentences in the present continuous tense.
Write the verbs with a contraction like the example.

example
He/watch TV

1.  He/play soccer

2.  We/listen to the radio

3.  You/go to the library

4.  I/cook lunch

5.  They/sleep

 

 

Present Participle

The present participle is the form of the verb that ends in -ing in English. This verb form is used in English to express actions that are happening at the present moment (for example, "I am walking") or to describe ongoing activities.

    Example:
    walk → walking

Rules for forming the present participle in English

1. Regular verbs
The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the base form of the verb.

    cook → cooking

2. Verbs that end with the letter e
If the verb ends with the letter e, we remove the e before adding -ing.

    drive → driving

3. Verbs with a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern
If the last three letters of the verb form a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, and the word's stress is on the last syllable, the last consonant is doubled before adding -ing.

    run → running
    swim → swimming

4. Exceptions:
We do not double the last consonant in verbs that end in -y or -w.

    stay → staying
    row → rowing

 

Exercise -The present participle

Change the verb to the present participle.

example
ride  

1.  dance  
 

2.  watch  
 

3.  open  
 

4.  hit  
 

5.  play  
 

6.  leave  
 

7.  write  
 

8.  sit  
 

9. read  
 

10.  put  
 

 

Wear

The verb wear means to have clothes on your body. When we want to describe what clothes someone has on their body at this moment, we use the verb wear in the present continuous tense.

Model 1

She is wearing a blue skirt and jacket and a pink blouse.

Note: In English, adjectives are always written before the noun they describe. For example, we say pink blouse.

 

Exercise - wearing

Describe the clothes she is wearing. Use the contraction "She's" as in the example.

Example

Model 2

red dress

red shoes

 

Model 3

green skirt

brown blouse

brown boots

 

Model 4

green t-shirt

green shoes

green shorts

 

Model 5

green hat

green pants

green coat

green gloves

green boots

 

Find the Mistake

Instructions
Identify the error in the following sentences and write the corrected version.

    example
    He are a student. → He is a student. 

1. I am wearing red dress. 

2. She is siting in the chair.

3. They are danceing.

4. She is wearing a orange skirt. 

5. He is wearing a jacket brown.

 

Writing

Describe your clothes or other people's clothes using the verb "wear".

    Example:
    I'm wearing black pants, a red blouse and black boots.
    Sarah is wearing a purple dress.

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Beginning English - Lesson 8 - Clothes
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