Unit 3, Verbs 89Copyright © by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
GrammarLesson 19
Verb Forms: Present Progressive and Past ProgressiveVerbs in the progressive form describe action that continues. The present
progressive form of a verb describes an action that is continuing at the present
time. The present progressive form consists of a helping verb (am, are, oris) plus
the present participle of the main verb.
SINGULAR PLURAL
I am laughing. We are laughing.
You are laughing. You are laughing.
She, he, or it is laughing. They are laughing.
The past progressive form of a verb describes an action that was continuing at an
earlier time. The past progressive form consists of a helping verb (was orwere)
plus the present participle of the main verb.
SINGULAR PLURAL
I was laughing. We were laughing.
You were laughing. You were laughing.
She, he, or it was laughing. They were laughing.
Notice that verbs in the progressive form always end in -ing. Exercise 1 Fill in the blank with the progressive form of the verb in parentheses.
Change present tense verbs to the present progressive form and past tense verbs to the
past progressive form.
Mr. Ling’s class [ is studying ]mammals. (studies)
1.The students [ were watching ]a video about opossums. (watched)
2.Now they [ are looking ]up facts about other animals. (look)
3.Jacob [ is listening ]to a recording of whale sounds. (listens)
4.Mr. Ling [ is requiring ]everyone to give a report. (requires)
5.Ta m a r a [ is planning ]to talk about horses. (plans)
6.She [ is visiting ]a stable to do research. (visits)
7.The entire class [ was working ]at the library today. (worked)
8.The librarian [ is helping ]Charlie find information. (helps)
9.Ved [ is showing ]Molly where the books about mammals are. (shows)