Progressive Forms - 6th Grade Grammar
Progressive Forms
Progressive forms use a form of be followed by a present participle, which is the -ing form of the verb.
Present Progressive
Present progressive tells about an action that is happening now:
I am working on my essay.
I am counting the days until vacation.
Past progressive tells about an action that took place while another action was occurring:
I was telling them about the field trip.
I was reading about our destination.
Future progressive adds the helping verb will and tells about an action that will occur while another happens:
I will be going to dance class after school.
By 2050, we will be driving spaceships.
I am working on my essay.
I am counting the days until vacation.
Past progressive tells about an action that took place while another action was occurring:
I was telling them about the field trip.
I was reading about our destination.
Future progressive adds the helping verb will and tells about an action that will occur while another happens:
I will be going to dance class after school.
By 2050, we will be driving spaceships.
Select the tense of each verb phrase.
Summary + Extra Examples
Here are some examples of different types of progressive forms and a few examples for each one:
1. Present Progressive: Describes an ongoing action that is happening now.
- "I am watching television."
- "She is reading a book."
- "They are walking in the park."
- "He is talking to his friend on the phone."
- "We are studying for our exams."
2. Past Progressive: Describes an ongoing action that was happening in the past.
- "I was watching television when the phone rang."
- "She was reading a book when her sister interrupted her."
- "They were walking in the park when it started to rain."
- "He was talking to his friend on the phone when the battery died."
- "We were studying for our exams when the power went out."
3. Future Progressive: Describes an ongoing action that will be happening in the future.
- "I will be watching television at 7 o'clock tonight."
- "She will be reading a book on the train tomorrow."
- "They will be walking in the park this time next week."
- "He will be talking to his friend on the phone later this evening."
- "We will be studying for our exams at this time tomorrow."
4. Present Perfect Progressive: Describes an ongoing action that started in the past and continues up to now.
- "I have been watching television for hours."
- "She has been reading a book all afternoon."
- "They have been walking in the park since this morning."
- "He has been talking to his friend on the phone for twenty minutes."
- "We have been studying for our exams since last week."
5. Past Perfect Progressive: Describes an ongoing action that started in the past and continued up to a specific point in the past.
- "I had been watching television for two hours before I got bored."
- "She had been reading a book for three hours before she fell asleep."
- "They had been walking in the park for an hour before it started to rain."
- "He had been talking to his friend on the phone for fifteen minutes before the line went dead."
- "We had been studying for our exams for weeks before we finally took them."