Do you know what the progressive tense is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on progressive tenses, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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November 27, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is the progressive tense?
According to Walden, there are many different forms of verbs in the English language:
- Present perfect continuous tense
- Gerund tense or gerund phrase
- Perfect passive tense
- Past participle tense
- Conditional perfect tense
- Present continuous tense
- Present perfect tense
- Conditional progressive tense
- Past progressive/continuous tense
- Imperative tense
- To-infinitive tense
- Present perfect progressive/continuous tense
- Present progressive tense
- Present indicative tense
- Bare infinitive tense
- Future progressive tense
- Past perfect tense
- Past progressive tense
- Simple past tense
- Future perfect progressive tense
- Simple present tense
- Present perfect progressive tense
- Simple conditional tense
- Conditional tense
- Past perfect progressive tense
- Simple future tense
- Conditional perfect progressive tense
- Subjunctive tense
- Indicative tense
- Infinitive tense
- Present participle tense
- Future perfect tense
Today we will cover the progressive tense. Progressive tenses, also known as continuous tenses, describe things that are in progress. This verb tense can be used to form affirmatives or negatives of a current action. The past progressive tense, future progressive tense, and present pogressive tense all express actions that are ongoing. These can also be called the present continuous tense, past continuous tense, and future continuous tense. The continuous tenses can be used to form an affirmative sentence, a positive sentence or a negative sentence. The progressive verb tenses can also be used to form and answer typical wh-questions ending in a question mark. In English grammar, we add ing to the stems of the verb form conjugated in the past, present or future.
The present progressive also exists in Spanish. Here, the word “estar” is conjugated in the past, present, or future for the subject and then the end of the action verb is replaced with ando for an ar verb, endo for an er verb, or iendo for an ir verb. For example, in the Spanish present progressive tense, “Nosotros estamos bailando” means “we are dancing.”
What are examples of the progressive tense?
See if you can identify the progressive verb in the first example and second example from Your Dictionary!
- You are not watching the movie.
- I was having a terrifying dream when the alarm clock went off at six o’clock this morning.
- Frances is talking on the phone at the moment.
- What were you doing when the alarm went off last night?
- The kids are arriving at six o’clock.
- She was wondering if you could babysit after school today.
- I was listening to my music, so I didn’t hear the phone ring.
- Today, most people are using text messages instead of the phone.
- I was wondering if you could open the door.
- Is John playing football today?
- Will we be flying over the Atlantic soon?
- In a year, he will be asking for forgiveness.
- The native speakers were thinking about how the rest of the sentence was formed.
- The dark was giving a loud bark tonight when Tim walked by.
- The guests are wondering if the grammarians will quiz them on their knowledge all night. The short questions are getting old.
- I was trying to think of a spelling tip to help me remember the last letter at the end of a sentence for my exam.
- While we were playing tennis, it started to rain.
- Are you going?
- We are leaving for the beach tomorrow morning.
- He was waiting at home all day when she sent him the message.
- Rose is reading a book.
- I was wondering how I did on my exam. The long forms of the questions were confusing.
- She was always taking all my ideas.
- The baby is sleeping in his crib.
- I am going to slide you an e-mail tomorrow.
- Are they listening to the teacher?
- I was listening to my music, so I didn’t hear the phone ring.
- He was going to pack a ham sandwich for lunch but he decided to make a peanut butter and jelly instead.
- Her mother is forever misplacing her keys.
- We were wondering if she was able to meet us at noon.
- She was playing the piano while Ann was singing on stage.
- I was wondering if you could walk the dog for me this evening.
- Our neighbor was always telling us funny stories about his daughter.
- The stocks are dropping constantly due to the economy.
- I am not going to the meeting after work.
- I was not sleeping when you got home late last night.I was having a great conversation with him when his ex-girlfriend interrupted it.
- We will not be driving spaceships in 3019.
- She is crying.
- Will Joanne be coming home for the holidays?
- By then, we will be practicing yoga every morning.
- What was she doing this time yesterday?
- While she was sleeping, someone took her phone.
- I was making dinner when he arrived at my house this evening.
- In an hour, we will be flying over the Atlantic.
- By 3019, we will be driving spaceships.
- I was thinking of the progressive aspect of the ad from the 1980s.
- I was having a great conversation with him when his ex-girlfriend interrupted it.
- I was going to spend the afternoon at the mall but decided to stay home instead.
- In two months, I will be eating a plant-based diet.
- I was forever worrying if I would make the team.
- Were you calling me when I emailed you this afternoon?
- You were asking what pronoun they used, but they would not answer the rest of your question.
- Marc is making pizza now.
- The amusement park will be increasing ticket prices later this year.
- We were sitting outside while the planes were flying overhead.
- He is talking to his friend.
- I thought we were planning to go at the present time, but I now realize I misread the first part and second part of your message.
- Shopping online is growing in popularity nowadays.
- We are visiting the museum in the afternoon.
- Is she laughing?
- He is not standing.
- I was making dinner when he arrived at my house this evening.
- They are eating lunch right now.
- Will you be eating a plant-based diet in two months?
- Anthony is sitting in the chair.
Overall, the progressive tense describes continuous action.
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