Conjugating in the Progressive Aspect

The progressive tenses show an ongoing action. Some grammarians call the progressive tense the progressive aspect. So let's learn the tricks of conjugating in the progressive aspect.

Once Amber and Igor learned all about the verb to be and present participles (-ing verb), they grunted the two together and developed a way to show a continuity of action. It was one thing to grunt, Igor eats and quite another to grunt, Igor is eating. By melding the verb to be with the present participle, they were then able to conjugate any verb in the six progressive tenses. All they had to do was conjugate the verb to be and then add the present participle.

 

Present Tense, Progressive Aspect

Here’s the present-progressive tense of the verb to write:

 

Past Tense, Progressive Aspect

Here’s the past-progressive tense of the verb to write:

 

Future Tense, Progressive Aspect

Here’s the future-progressive tense of the verb to write:

 

Present-Perfect Tense, Progressive Aspect

Here’s the present-perfect progressive tense of the verb to write:

 

Past-Perfect Tense, Progressive Aspect

Here’s the past-perfect progressive tense of the verb to write:

 

Future-Perfect Tense, Progressive Aspect

Here’s the future-perfect progressive tense of the verb to write:

 

Finally, we do have another set of possible conjugations: the passive voice of a transitive verb. We’ll explore a conjugation in the passive voice in the Grammar eBook Developing a Powerful Writing Style, where we discuss the passive voice in detail.

Hard Copy

You may download our entire discussion of the Parts of Speech. Simply download the Grammar eBook Understanding the Parts of Speech.

 

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