made up of salt water

[English Learner]

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #185 "Verb Tense Practice (2)", question 10

The ocean ......... made up of salt water.

(a) is being
(b) are
(c) being
(d) is

English Grammar Tests, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #185 "Verb Tense Practice (2)", answer 10

The ocean is made up of salt water.

Correct answer: (d) is

Your answer was: incorrect
The ocean is being made up of salt water.
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why does the addition of being wrong?

criss

[Beeesneees]

Because only the simple present tense is needed here, not the present continuous tense.

The infinitive form is 'to be made':

The auxiliary verb is 'to be'.
The primary verb is 'make'.

present simple: It is made
present continuous: It is being made
present perfect: It has been made
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"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."
Terry Pratchett

[Alan]

Hi English Learner,

'It is being made' is the passive form in the present continuous tense. It means that something is in the process of being made. We could say: A cake is being made by the cook. In the active form this would be: The cook is making the cake. In the test sentence: The ocean is made up of salt water, we are not talking about a process but of a fact/a statement that is true all the time. In that case we need the present simple - 'is made'.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Puppet]

[Olivers]

Thanks for the explanation.