The Continuous or Progressive Tenses
The Continuous or Progressive Tenses describe an action that goes on or continues or progresses for sometime.
To make them we use the helping verb be and the present participle (am, is, are for the present continuous and was, were for the past continuous).
- The Present Continuous Tense
The simple present tense is the everyday or habitual present. The present continuous is the real or immediate present which tells us what is happening at the time of speaking e.g.
What are you doing, John?
I am doing my homework, father.
Study the following examples to see the difference in the use of the simple present and the present continuous:
| Present Continuous | Simple Present |
| What are you learning now?We are learning English grammar. | Which days in the week do you learn grammar?We learn it on Mondays and Tuesdays. |
| Where are you going now?I am going to school. | How do you go to school?I go to school by bus. |
| What is your father doing?My father is watching television. | What do you watch on television?I watch cartoon films. |
| What is your mother doing?She is writing a letter to grandmother. | Do you write letters to your friends and relatives?Yes, I do. |
Notice that the present continuous of go and come is often used for the future, e.g.
We are going for a picnic tomorrow.
My friends are coming to our house next week.
The present continuous of go, followed by an infinitive, is often used for the future, e.g.
I am going to finish my work tomorrow.
Are they going to repair the roads before the rains?
- The Past Continuous Tense
We make this with was/were and the present participle.
The past continuous tense shows an action that went on for some time in the past, e.g.
Mother and father were sitting in garden while I was watering the plants. My younger brother was playing under the tree, mother was reading a magazine and father was having his tea.
It is also used to express an action that was going on when another happened. The second action is in the simple past tense, e.g.
She lost her watch while she was playing.
I was going to the market when I saw the accident.
- The Future Continuous Tense
This tense is formed by the simple future of the verb be and the past participle of the principal verb. It shows that a person will keep on doing something in the future, e.g.
We will be studying mathematics in the next lesson.
We will be playing football in the field at 5 o’clock this evening.
On Sunday, my parents will be going for a movie and I will be looking after my little sister.