A1 English grammar worksheet
The two present tenses: what is always true against what is happening now.
8 gap-fill exercises on Present simple and present continuous, the first thing most beginners get wrong in English. Answer in the browser and the rule appears with each answer, or print the PDF and work through it on paper.
This A1 sheet is free on the web. The graded set from A2 to C2 lives in the oqou app, where A1 is part of Pro as well.
Practise it here
After each answer you get the rule, written in English. That is deliberate: the sheets are made to be worked through in the language you are learning.
Exercise 1 of 8
My sister in a bank.
Choose the word that fills the gap.
Print it
The same worksheet as a print-ready A4 PDF, with the answer key on the last page. Free to use in a classroom, and free to share.
Download the PDFPresent simple and present continuous
My sister ___ in a bank.
Look, it ___ outside.
We usually ___ dinner at eight.
Be quiet, the baby ___.
Water ___ at one hundred degrees.
I cannot talk now, I ___ to work.
He ___ coffee. He prefers tea.
___ you often work on Saturdays?
Answer key
My sister works in a bank.
Present simple for a job: it is true every day, not only now.
Look, it is raining outside.
Present continuous for something happening at this moment.
We usually have dinner at eight.
Present simple with usually, always and never: how often something happens.
Be quiet, the baby is sleeping.
Present continuous for right now, even when the verb is normally a habit.
Water boils at one hundred degrees.
Present simple for a fact that is always true.
I cannot talk now, I am driving to work.
Present continuous for this moment, often with now or at the moment.
He does not drink coffee. He prefers tea.
Present simple negative uses do not or does not for a habit.
Do you often work on Saturdays?
Present simple questions start with do or does, not with be.
Questions about the worksheets
Are these grammar worksheets really free?
Yes. The A1 worksheet for every language is free on this site, both to practise online and to download as a PDF, with no account and no email. You may print them for a class.
Where are the A2, B1 and higher worksheets?
In the oqou app, one worksheet per CEFR level per language, as part of Pro. A1 is free here on the web and part of Pro in the app, which is a deliberate exception rather than an oversight.
Can I use these with my students?
Yes. Print the PDF, hand it out, keep the answer key. A link back to this page is appreciated but not required.