Tonight, a dog with a bone. And everything is happening now.
Aesop’s Fables · Part 2 · The present continuous
The Dog and His Reflection
I am walking, he is carrying, they are watching: the grammar for what is happening now, with a hungry dog, a big bone and a river.
🐕 Play the story too: in the gamebook, you are the Dog.Play the gamebook →
SOPHIA
MARCOS
I like this story already.
The fable
After Aesop
A Dog is walking in the village. He is very hungry. The butcher is standing at his door, and he gives the Dog a big bone.
The Dog is very happy. He is carrying the bone home in his mouth. Now he is crossing a little bridge over a river.
He is looking down at the water. Wait! There is another dog in the river! It is looking at him, and it is carrying a bone too. Its bone is bigger!
The Dog opens his mouth to bark at the other dog. Splash! His bone is falling into the river. Now he has got nothing.
The other dog? It was only his reflection.
If you want too much, you can lose everything.
Am, is, are + -ing
DEMETRIA
The Dog is walking. The butcher is standing. I am listening!
SOPHIA
Yes. The present continuous is am / is / are + -ing. We use it for things happening now, at this moment. I am reading. They are playing.
Spelling: -ing
PHILO
Why is it running with two n’s, but making with no e?
SOPHIA
Good question, Philo. Short verbs with one vowel + one consonant double it: run → running, sit → sitting, swim → swimming. Verbs with -e lose it: make → making, smile → smiling.
Questions and negatives
MARCOS
Is the other dog moving? No, it isn’t!
SOPHIA
Questions: Is he eating? What are you doing? Negatives: isn’t, aren’t, I’m not + -ing. And remember: every day = present simple; now = present continuous.
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the fable |
|---|---|---|
| am / is / are + -ing | something happening now | The Dog is crossing the bridge. |
| isn’t / aren’t + -ing | negative | The other dog isn’t moving. |
| Is he…? / What are you…? | questions | What is the Dog doing? |
| run → running | double the consonant | He is running. |
| make → making | lose the -e | He is making a mistake. |
Practice
Answer all the questions, then press “Check my answers”. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Choose the best answer
Choose the right word.
1. The Dog ___ a bone.
2. Look! The children ___ in the street.
3. I ___ the story now.
4. Spelling: swim → ___
5. What ___ you doing?
6. Every day the Dog ___ to the butcher.
B · Complete the sentence
Write the missing word or words.
7. The Dog looking at the water.
8. They not listening.
9. Spelling: smile →
10. the Dog barking? Yes, he is.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
11. “The Dog is eat his bone.”
12. “She is sitting by the river.”
13. “I am runing to the bridge.”
Now cross the bridge yourself. What are you going to see in the river?Play the gamebook →