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Are You Progressing with
Progressive Tenses? |
For VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.
Today 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. |
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past |
present |
future |
Progressive
Verbs |
It was snowing when I drove to
work.
Was/were + -ing verb |
It is snowing.
Am/is/are+-ing verb |
It will be snowing by the time
I get home.
Will be + -ing verb |
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Present Progressive
We 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.”
It 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”?
“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.
Now, at this time, and currently are common adverbs in
the present progressive.
The 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.”
The 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 .
You 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!”
Past Progressive
Let’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.”
Sentences in the past progressive often have two
actions.
For example, “It was snowing when the plane landed in
Denver.”
Notice that the second action, landed, is in the simple
past.
The 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.”
It 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”.
Future Progressive
The 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.”
The 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.
You could tell her, “I’m sorry, but I will be working
when your plane gets in.”
Stative Verbs
There 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.
A 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 the in the same way.
Progressive verbs are especially useful for describing
changing emotional states. For that reason, they are
very common in song lyrics. We will leave you with a few
examples.
I’m John Russell.
And I’m Jill Robbins.
[John Lennon]
“I was dreaming of the past
And my heart was beating fast
I began to lose control…”
[Styx]
“I’m sailing away
Sail an open course for the virgin sea”
[Adele]
“I'll be waiting for you when
you're ready to love me again
I put my hands up
I'll do everything different
I'll be better to you”
Adam Brock wrote this story for Learning English. Jill
Robbins and Kathleen Struck were the editors. |
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