The continuous tense—also known as the progressive tense—is used for mostly ongoing events that are temporary.
Remember that stative verbs cannot be used in the continuous tense. Actions about feelings or states of being that happened in the past use the simple past tense.
How to conjugate the present continuous tense
The present continuous tense is used often, and has many different uses:
- events happening right now
- ongoing events that are temporary
- plans for the near future
It’s often confused with the present simple; situations which might seem like the simple present—such as actions happening currently—are actually best represented by the present continuous.
Form the present continuous by adding the conjugated simple present form of be before the present participle of your main verb (the -ing form).
am / is / are + [PRESENT PARTICIPLE]
Tony is sleeping at the moment.
Later, we’re seeing the new zombie movie. Everyone is talking about it!
How to conjugate the past continuous tense
The past continuous tense shows ongoing events that happened in the past, specifically ones that have a definitive beginning and end. It can also be used to show a past event that was interrupted by another past event. Note that the past continuous is only used for events that are completed.
Form the past continuous by adding the conjugated simple past form of be before the present participle. Yes, the present participle.
was/were + [PRESENT PARTICIPLE]
They were eating dinner when the phone rang.
It was raining all day, but we still had fun indoors.
How to conjugate the future continuous tense
The future continuous tense describes ongoing events that will happen in the future, specifically if they have a definitive beginning and end.
It’s formed by adding the words will be before the present participle.
will be + [PRESENT PARTICIPLE]
We will be skiing all day Saturday.
After I quit, you will be begging me to come back to work.
Leave a Reply