Verbs that are in the progressive tense are used to talk about continuous actions. In other words, they tell if the action is happening, was happening, or will be happening.
Present Progressive Tense
The present progressive tense tells about something that is happening right now. It uses the helping verb is, am, or are and the progressive form of the verb (or the –ing form).
Examples: We are having Chinese food for dinner. She is painting a beautiful picture.
Past Progressive Tense
The past progressive tense tells about something that was happening in the past. It uses the helping verb was or were and the progressive form of the verb (or the –ing form). Usually, the past progressive verb tense talks about an action that happened in the middle of another action.
Example: It was raining when I was ready to go out.
Future Progressive Tense
The future progressive tense or continuous tense describes actions that will be ongoing in the future. It is formed using the helping verb will be and the progressive form of the verb (or the –ing form).
Example: They will be visiting Aunt Rhonda in Austin in the summer.
4th Grade Writing - Progressive Tenses Lesson