Progressive Tenses

Verbs

In this lesson, you'll learn about the:

  • present participle
  • present progressive tense
  • past progressive tense
  • future progressive tense.
Several examples are included to show how they are used.

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? 你在做什么?
I was walking to the store when you phoned. 我走的商店,当你打电话。
The dog was sleeping when I walked by. 狗在睡觉,当我走过。
We were thinking about going to Costa Rica for our vacation, but eventually decided to go to Ecuador instead. 我们考虑去哥斯达黎加我们的假期,但最终我们决定去厄瓜多尔代替。

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? 你在做什么?
I'm going to the store. 我要去商店。
The car is moving very slowly. 车子很缓慢。
I am going to the movie on Tuesday. 我要去在电影上周二。

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? 当你在度假,你会怎么做?
We'll be swimming in the ocean every day. 我们将在海洋每天游泳。
The car will be repaired on Tuesday. 这款车将在周二进行修复。
We will be waiting for you when you arrive. 当你到达我们会等着你。
I'll be going to the movie on Tuesday. 我会去看电影在周二。
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