Life·style
Essential Grammar
Course Outline
2 min readLesson 6 of 9

Simple Present Continuous — Negative

When do we use it?

Saying something is NOT happening right now.

Correcting a wrong assumption about what is going on.

Saying something is not in progress at this moment.

No, I'm not sleeping — I'm just resting.

The system is not crashing — it is just updating slowly.

They aren't arguing, they are just talking loudly.

How can we apply it?

Just add not after am / is / are:

Subject + am / is / are + not + Verb-ing

⚠️ Short forms:

Full form

Short form

I am not

I'm not

He / She / It is not

He isn't / She isn't / It isn't

You / We / They are not

You aren't / We aren't / They aren't

⚠️ "I amn't" does NOT exist in English. Always use I'm not.

Examples

With am / is / are + not:

Subject

Form

Example

I

am not + Verb-ing

I am not sleeping.

You / We / They

are not + Verb-ing

They aren't watching TV.

He / She / It

is not + Verb-ing

She isn't working today.

Real-life sentences

  • I'm not eating right now — I just finished.

  • My brother isn't playing football today, it's raining.

  • The baby isn't sleeping anymore — she woke up.

  • We aren't working this weekend.

  • The engine isn't running — the battery is dead.

  • The water isn't boiling yet, please wait.

Practice

Sample Anwser
  1. He is sitting on a bench.

  2. She is drinking juice.

  3. They are eating pizza.

  4. The dog is playing with a ball.

  5. He is walking and listening to music.

  6. She is standing or stretching.

  7. They are playing video games.

  8. He is sleeping in a hammock.

  9. They are reading books.

  10. He is talking on the phone.

  11. They are writing or studying.

  12. She is talking on the phone.

  13. He is drawing a picture.

  14. She is using the computer.

  15. They are cleaning up the toys.

  16. He is riding a bicycle.

  17. She is watering the flowers.

  18. They are getting on the bus.

  19. It is raining.

  20. She is making a cake and a mess.