Present Continuous: Negative Form

1 Two Ways to Say NOT

You can say what people are NOT doing now. Look at these two ways:

Full form: I am not working. You are not studying. He is not playing. She is not eating. It is not raining. We are not talking. They are not sleeping.

Short form: I‘m not working. You aren’t studying. He isn’t playing. She isn’t eating. It isn’t raining. We aren’t talking. They aren’t sleeping.

Both ways are good. The short form is very common.

2 How to Make the Negative

You need three parts: the subject (I, you, he, she, it, we, they), then am/is/are + not, then the verb with -ing. You can say many actions with one negative: I’m not working, studying or playing, I’m relaxing.

3 A Day at Work

It is 3 p.m. at the office. Sam is at his desk. He is working on a report. He isn’t talking on the phone. Jordan is in the meeting room. She is presenting to clients. She isn’t sitting, she is standing. Chris is in the kitchen. He isn’t making coffee. He is eating lunch. Alex is at her computer. She isn’t writing emails. She is reading a document. The manager, Taylor, isn’t working at the office today. He is traveling to another city. Everyone is busy, but they aren’t doing the same thing.

4 Practice: Office Scene

Now you can practice. Look at the picture and write.