Progressive Tenses
In this lesson, you'll learn about the:
- present participle
- present progressive tense
- past progressive tense
- future progressive tense.
Present Participle
The present participle is a form of a verb that is used in the creation of the progressive tenses. The present participle is formed by adding ing to the end of a verb. If the verb ends in an e, the e is dropped. The following table shows some examples of the present participle.
| Verb | Present Participle |
|---|---|
| do | doing |
| make | making |
| think | thinking |
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The Progressive Tenses
Progressive tenses, also called continuous tenses, express the idea that an action is in progress during a particular time period. Progressive tenses are formed with the verb "be" and the present participle of a verb. There are three progressive tenses in English:
- past progressive
- present progressive
- future progressive.
The Past Progressive Tense
The past progressive tense, also called past continuous or imperfect, indicates that an action took place in the past, but was in progress for a period of time, or in progress when another action happened, or the action is incomplete. The past progressive is formed by using the past tense of the verb be with the present participle of a verb. The following table shows the past progressive tense for the verb go.
| I | was going |
| you | were going |
| he / she / it | was going |
| we | were going |
| they | were going |
Examples
| What were you doing? | |
| I was walking to the store when you phoned. | |
| The dog was sleeping when I walked by. | |
| We were thinking about going to Costa Rica for our vacation, but eventually decided to go to Ecuador instead. |
The Present Progressive Tense
The present progressive tense expresses an action that is taking place at the moment of speaking and implies that the action is in progress. The present progressive is formed by using the present tense of the verb be with the present participle of a verb.
The present progressive tense can be used instead of the future progressive tense when the action is happening at a specific time in the future.
The following table shows the present progressive tense of the verb go.
| I | am going |
| you | are going |
| he / she / it | is going |
| we | are going |
| they | are going |
Examples
| What are you doing? | |
| I'm going to the store. | |
| The car is moving very slowly. | |
| I am going to the movie on Tuesday. |
The Future Progressive Tense
The future progressive tense indicates that an action will be in progress when another action happens in the future. The future progressive tense is formed by using the future tense of the verb be with the present participle of a verb. The following table shows the future progressive tense for the verb go.
| I | will be going |
| you | will be going |
| he / she / it | will be going |
| we | will be going |
| they | will be going |
Examples
| What will you be doing when you are on vacation? | |
| We'll be swimming in the ocean every day. | |
| The car will be repaired on Tuesday. | |
| We will be waiting for you when you arrive. | |
| I'll be going to the movie on Tuesday. |
