Answer :
In this exercise, we are working with the present continuous tense, which is used to describe actions that are happening right now or around the present time. Let's go through each part of the sentence to fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs in brackets:
'Dear Ted, London is cool! We are having (have) a great time!'
- Here, 'are having' is the correct present continuous form, as it indicates an action currently taking place.
'The sun is shining (shine) today and it's hot, so I ...'
- 'is shining' is the correct form, as it describes an ongoing action happening right now.
'... so I am wearing (wear) my favourite T-shirt and I ...'
- 'am wearing' is used to show the action of wearing something at this moment.
'... and I am walking (walk) in the park.'
- Here, 'am walking' indicates the action of walking that is happening right now.
'Anna and Tanya are sitting (sit) under a tree and ...'
- 'are sitting' shows that Anna and Tanya are currently sitting under the tree.
'Matt is playing (play) football.'
- 'is playing' reflects the ongoing activity of playing football by Matt.
The completed paragraph should appear as:
'Dear Ted, London is cool! We are having a great time! The sun is shining today and it's hot, so I am wearing my favourite T-shirt and I am walking in the park. Anna and Tanya are sitting under a tree and Matt is playing football. It's great here!
Love,
Peter'
In summary, the present continuous tense allows us to describe actions that are currently happening, and it's formed by using the auxiliary verb 'to be' (is/am/are) followed by the base verb with an '-ing' ending.
