Tidewater Community College
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Progressive Tenses
Present Progressive (Continuous): Formed with am, is, are (present tense conjugated forms of be)+ present
participle (-ing form of verb) to describe actions occurring at the present time, now, immediately.
Signal words: now, for the time being, at present, at the moment, temporarily.
I am wearing my new raincoat.
We are hoping that the rain will stop soon.
Past Progressive (Continuous): Formed with was or were (past tense conjugated forms of be) + present participle
(-ing form of verb) to describe a past action interrupted by another past action.
Signal words: while, as, when.
I was jogging in the park when the rain began.
Jane and Roy were painting the living room when the phone rang.
Future Progressive (Continuous): Formed with will +present participle (-ing form of the verb) to describe an
action that will be in progress in the future.
Signal words: this time next year, by the time that.
Kelly will be wearing a new red hat at the concert.
Perfect Tenses
Present Perfect: Formed with the present tense of have (choose either have or, if the subject is third person
singular, has) plus the past participle of the main verb. The present tense is used in several circumstances as
described below.
Signal words: since, several times, every, just, recent.
1. Action that began in the past and continues to the present with the sense that it will continue in the future.
John has worked at the bookstore since last summer.
2. Action that occurred more than once or repeatedly in the past.
Margaret has sung at every Friday concert held at the school.
3. Action that happened at an unknown past time.
Our friends have traveled to Paris.
4. A recent occurrence given extra emphasis.
The boys have just found the coins.
5. A completed action given extra emphasis.
Yes, we have studied for the test.
Past Perfect: Formed with had plus the past participle of the main verb. The past perfect tense emphasizes the
earlier of two past actions. Use the simple past when two past actions are presented in normal chronological (time)
order.
1. Use the past perfect when two past actions are presented out of time order, as in the examples below.
Signal words: by the time, after, before, already
Chronological (normal time)order. The children picked a quart of strawberries and ate them for dessert. Note
that these two actions appear in normal chronological order in the sentence; therefore, both verbs are in the
simple past tense.
Non-chronological order: For dessert the children ate the quart of strawberries they had picked. Note that the
actions are presented here out of chronological order, the action that happened earlier comes later in the
sentence. Therefore, the earlier action is emphasized by the past perfect tense.
We painted the house blue after we had scrubbed the dirt off.
Copyright for this document is held by the Writing Center and Grammar Hotline of Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach
Campus. It has been written, revised, and/or edited by staff paid to perform that work for the college; therefore, the rights are
retained by the college.
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After he had stepped on the nail, his foot began to hurt.