Present Tenses in Dialogues - Fill the Gaps

Choose the correct forms of present simple or present continuous for the gaps

Caller: Good morning, ..... Mr Green there?

are

Man: No, he ..... here.

isn't

aren't

He ..... at the moment.

works

is working

He usually ..... until 4 p.m.

works

is working

Caller: What about Mrs Green? Where ..... she?

are

Man: She ..... the shopping.

is doing

does

She always ..... the shopping on Thursday afternoons.

is doing

does

Caller: Where ..... the children?

are

Man: They ..... football.

are playing

play

They always ..... football after school.

play

are playing

Caller: How ..... all this? Who are you?

do you know

are you knowing

Man: I ..... the burglar.

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Rule: Present Simple and Present Continuous ShowHide

Present Simple

Habits and routines: He eats fish every day.
Facts and permanent situations: She lives in Spain. Lucy doesn't eat meat.
Timetables: The train leaves at six.

always · usually · often · normally · never · every day · on Saturdays

Present Continuous

Now, as you speak: The train is arriving right now.
Temporary situations: At the moment she is living in China.
Arrangements for the near future: What are you doing this afternoon?

now · right now · at the moment · today · this week · tonight · Look!

State verbs

They describe a state, not an action, and are rarely used in the Continuous: She likes cold weather, not ~~is liking~~.

likes and dislikes: like, love, hate, dislike, prefer, enjoy
the mind: know, remember, understand, forget, think, realise, suppose
the senses: see, hear, smell, feel, taste
others: want, need, cost, own, weigh, appear, include, have got

Some of these verbs can also mean an action, and then the Continuous is fine: I think it's great (opinion) – I'm thinking about the trip; I have got a car – we're having lunch; the soup tastes good – the cook is tasting the soup.

Five conversations, a whole dialogue on each page: a phone call to a house where nobody is in, a chat about homework, and three more. Every line has a gap of its own, and the next dialogue opens only when the current one is finished.