Step 12: Right Now!
What is happening now — Present continuous
📖 Read — What Is Happening?
Look! It is raining now. The children are playing in the park. They are running and laughing. Their mother is sitting on a chair. She is reading a book. A man is cooking in a small café. He is making tea. I am watching them, and I am smiling. Life is beautiful right now.
🧩 Grammar — Present continuous — happening now
For actions happening now, use BE + verb-ing: I am reading. She is cooking. They are playing. Signal words: now, right now, look!, listen!
- It is raining now.
- They are playing.
- She is reading a book.
- I am watching them.
🏗️ Key structures
- Look! He/She is + verb-ing — Look! She is cooking.
- They are + verb-ing + now — They are playing now.
- I am + verb-ing — I am smiling.
⭐ Idiom & natural phrases
Sorry, I can't talk — I am in the middle of something.
🔤 New words
water falling from the sky (verb)
It is raining now.
make a happy sound
The children are laughing.
be on a chair
She is sitting on a chair.
create or prepare something
He is making tea.
show a happy face
I am smiling.
very nice to see
Life is beautiful.
young people (plural of child)
The children are playing.
the time we are alive; living
Life is good.
🎧 Say it with me
Look! The children are playing, and their mother is reading a book.
🎤 Your turn to speak
Look at a photo (or out of the window) and say what people are doing now: 'He is…, they are…'
Say it out loud three times. Even better: record it on your phone and listen — your ear is your best teacher.
✍️ Your turn to write
Write 4 sentences about what your family is doing now.
See a model answer
My mother is cooking. My father is watching TV. My sister is studying. I am writing English!
Self-check: capital letters? Full stops? Did you use the grammar of this step?
📝 Quick check
Go deeper
This step is a doorway — the full lesson goes much further:
Present Continuous: Now & Future Plans — full lesson + 50-question quiz
🎉 Saved in your progress!