Are You Learning the Progressive Tenses?
2024-11-29
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1For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
2Today we are going to look at the progressive verb tenses.
3Progressive tenses express actions that are unfinished or in progress.
4There are three progressive verb tenses: the past progressive, the present progressive, and the future progressive.
5Progressive tenses are the same as continuous tenses.
6We will start with the present progressive, the most common progressive tense.
7You form the present progressive tense by using a form of the verb be followed by an -ing verb.
8For example, "I am watching a movie."
9It is easy to confuse the simple present and the present progressive.
10What's the difference between, "It rains in Seattle" and "It is raining in Seattle"?
11"It rains in Seattle" states that it rains in general.
12It does not necessarily mean that it is raining at the moment of speaking.
13"It is raining in Seattle" means that the rain started in the past, is happening now, and will probably continue into the future.
14Now, at this time, and currently are common adverbs in the present progressive.
15The present progressive can also express a scheduled event in the future.
16For example, this sentence is in the present progressive: "She is starting school next semester."
17The meaning here is the same as the sentence in the simple future: "She is going to start school next semester."
18The present progressive and simple future (with be going to) sometimes have the same meaning.
19You can also use present progressive with always to say that something disturbs you.
20"My neighbor is always playing loud music at night" or "I am always making mistakes with verb tenses!"
21Let's move on to the past progressive.
22The past progressive describes an event that was in progress in the past.
23To form the past progressive use was or were followed by an -ing verb.
24 For example, "I was working late last night."
25Sentences in the past progressive often have two actions.
26For example, "It was snowing when the plane landed in Denver."
27Notice that the second action, landed, is in the simple past.
28The past progressive can also express an action in progress interrupted by a second action.
29"I was running when I slipped and fell" or "I was sleeping when you called."
30It is possible to have two progressive actions in the same sentence if the two actions are happening at the same time.
31You could say, "I was sleeping when you were working".
32The future progressive tense describes an event that will be in progress in the future.
33To form the future progressive tense, use will be followed by an -ing verb.
34For example, "I will be waiting for you when you finish work."
35The future progressive can be useful when you are making plans.
36Imagine your friend wants you to pick her up the airport tomorrow.
37But you have to work.
38You could tell her, "I'm sorry, but I will be working when your plane gets in."
39There are some verbs that cannot be used in any of the progressive tenses.
40You would say "I own a car," not "I am owning a car."
41Own is a stative verb. Stative verbs describe unchanging conditions or situations.
42Stative verbs often refer to mental states such as know, realize, like, believe, understand, love, hate, appear, and exist.
43A few verbs have both stative and non-stative meanings. Let's look at the verb think.
44"I think the book is good" is stative. The action does not change.
45"I am thinking about you" is progressive. It shows a temporary, changing action. Sensory verbs like see, taste, feel, smell, and hear work in the same way.
46Progressive verbs are especially useful for describing changing emotional states.
47I'm Jill Robbins.
48And I'm John Russell.
1Editors note: This is the second of a four-part series on verb tenses. Click here to see part one. See the others in Related Stories. 2For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. 3Today we are going to look at the progressive verb tenses. Progressive tenses express actions that are unfinished or in progress. There are three progressive verb tenses: the past progressive, the present progressive, and the future progressive. Progressive tenses are the same as continuous tenses. 4past 5present 6future 7Progressive 8Verbs 9It was snowing when I drove to work. 10Was/were + -ing verb 11It is snowing. 12Am/is/are+-ing verb 13It will be snowing by the time I get home. 14Will be + -ing verb 15Present progressive 16We will start with the present progressive, the most common progressive tense. You form the present progressive tense by using a form of the verb be followed by an -ing verb. For example, "I am watching a movie." 17It is easy to confuse the simple present and the present progressive. What's the difference between, "It rains in Seattle" and "It is raining in Seattle"? 18"It rains in Seattle" states that it rains in general. It does not necessarily mean that it is raining at the moment of speaking. "It is raining in Seattle" means that the rain started in the past, is happening now, and will probably continue into the future. 19Now, at this time, and currently are common adverbs in the present progressive. 20The present progressive can also express a scheduled event in the future. For example, this sentence is in the present progressive: "She is starting school next semester." 21The meaning here is the same as the sentence in the simple future: "She is going to start school next semester." The present progressive and simple future (with be going to) sometimes have the same meaning. 22You can also use present progressive with always to say that something disturbs you. "My neighbor is always playing loud music at night" or "I am always making mistakes with verb tenses!" 23Past progressive 24Let's move on to the past progressive. The past progressive describes an event that was in progress in the past. To form the past progressive use was or were followed by an -ing verb. For example, "I was working late last night." 25Sentences in the past progressive often have two actions. 26For example, "It was snowing when the plane landed in Denver." 27Notice that the second action, landed, is in the simple past. 28The past progressive can also express an action in progress interrupted by a second action. "I was running when I slipped and fell" or "I was sleeping when you called." 29It is possible to have two progressive actions in the same sentence if the two actions are happening at the same time. You could say, "I was sleeping when you were working". 30Future progressive 31The future progressive tense describes an event that will be in progress in the future. To form the future progressive tense, use will be followed by an -ing verb. For example, "I will be waiting for you when you finish work." 32The future progressive can be useful when you are making plans. Imagine your friend wants you to pick her up the airport tomorrow. But you have to work. 33You could tell her, "I'm sorry, but I will be working when your plane gets in." 34Stative verbs 35There are some verbs that cannot be used in any of the progressive tenses. You would say "I own a car," not "I am owning a car." Own is a stative verb. Stative verbs describe unchanging conditions or situations. Stative verbs often refer to mental states such as know, realize, like, believe, understand, love, hate, appear, and exist. 36A few verbs have both stative and non-stative meanings. Let's look at the verb think. "I think the book is good" is stative. The action does not change. "I am thinking about you" is progressive. It shows a temporary, changing action. Sensory verbs like see, taste, feel, smell, and hear work in the same way. 37Progressive verbs are especially useful for describing changing emotional states. 38I'm Jill Robbins. 39And I'm John Russell. 40Adam Brock wrote this lesson for Learning English. 41____________________________________________________ 42Words in This Story 43stative - adj. describes verbs that express a state rather than an action; usually relating to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being and measurements 44sensory - adj. of or relating to your physical senses