Present Simple vs Present Continuous
Two present tenses, same time window, different meanings: She works in a hospital (her job) versus She is working from home today (today only). At A2, learners need to make this choice consciously — based on whether the action is a habit or in progress right now — and handle a second hurdle: a set of state verbs (know, like, love, want, need, believe, understand, mean, have = own) that refuse the continuous form altogether. I am liking this song simply doesn’t work in English.
This worksheet drills the A2 distinction between the Present Simple (habits, routines, general truths) and the Present Continuous (actions now or around now). Students choose between the two forms using signal-word cues (usually, every day, on Mondays vs now, right now, at the moment, today) and learn which verbs refuse the continuous form.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- Grammar Box contrasting the two tenses with signal words and a list of state verbs
- Multiple-choice (8 items): pick the correct form, with at least one state-verb trap per cluster
- Rewrite the sentence: change the tense by changing the time expression (e.g., now → every Friday)
- Error correction (6 items): fix state-verb continuous (I am liking it), missing auxiliaries in questions, and tense-meaning mismatches
- Full Answer Key with reasoning for each choice plus Teacher Notes on the have ambiguity (own vs experience)
Common mistakes addressed: continuous form with state verbs (I am liking, We are knowing, Tom is having two sisters), missing auxiliary in questions (What you doing?), and using the simple for current actions (He drinks tea right now).
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR A2, in pre-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. A direct preparation step for Cambridge A2 Key (KET) and B1 Preliminary (PET) — both exams test the simple/continuous contrast explicitly in Reading-Use of English and Writing. Part of the Present Tenses collection — the natural next step is Present Continuous: Actions Right Now, which extends the work into picture-based production.
