English as an Additional Language/Progressives

The progressive in English describes actions that were ongoing at one point in time. It can also be called the continuous.

Past Progressives

The past progressive describes an action that was ongoing in the past but is no longer going on.

Example conjugation for "to eat"

Pronoun	Was or Were?	Verb stem	-ing
I	was	eat	ing
He
She
It
You	were
They
We

The past progressive can be used to describe an action that was ongoing before it was interrupted.

E.g. Sally was eating pasta before the guests arrived.

It can also be used to describe two actions that were going on simultaneously.

E.g. While he was cooking dinner, I was in bed sleeping.

The past perfect progressive describes an action that started and was continuously going on until one point in the past.

Example conjugation for "to fight"

Pronoun	Had	Been	Verb stem	-ing
It	had	been	fight	ing
He
She
It
You
They
We

E.g. I had been fighting with my brother for the entire morning.

Present Progressive

The present progressive describes an action that is still being actively done. Unlike in other languages, the simple present cannot be substituted for the present progressive as the simple present only describes general facts.

Example conjugation for "to exercise"

Pronoun	Am, Is or Are?	Verb stem	-ing
I	am	exercis	ing
He	is
She
It
You	are
They
We

The present progressive can be used to describe an action that is currently ongoing.

E.g. They are exercising right now.

It can also be used to describe a planned future action.

E.g. She is catching a train tomorrow.