Although it’s not the most frequently studied verb tenses, the present perfect progressive is used quite frequently in speech.
It is used to describe the beginning of an ongoing action in the past that is continuing now and will continue into the future. Here is an activity to help you recognize how it is used in everyday speech.
When deciding whether to use the past simple or the past progressive, consider this:
The past simple is used to describe an action that happened once and now it’s finished. The past progressive describes an ongoing action in the past that is now finished.
Read this dialogue and decide which verb tense fits the context better:
Past Simple vs. Past Progressive
This activity is also available in PDF.
Students learning English tend to use only will or going to to express the future, but did you know that the present progressive can also be used to express events in the near future?
The present progressive form of the verb (to be + ___-ing) stays the same; all you have to do is add context, and you’re finished! Until you get comfortable using the present progressive to express the future, you can become familiar with the form and meaning with this activity:
This activity is also available on a combined PDF document.
Here’s a quick activity to test your knowledge of subject/verb agreement in the past tense of the verb to be.
Sure, you already know this:
Easy, right? Well, don’t get fooled by subjects like all, some, everyone, and no one!
Deciding whether to use is or has when describing someone or something is very common issue for ESL students. If you don’t know whether to use is or has, follow this guideline to help you decide:
There is one more thing to pay attention to…
Here’s an easy-reference chart to help you:
| is | adjective | She is beautiful. |
| has | noun | He has talent. |
| has | noun + adjective | He has green eyes. |
Here’s how the Verb Tense and Meaning Technique works:
If your question says something like:
What is most likely to happen next?
You can eliminate (or slash) 3 and 4 because called is in the past tense (an action that is finished) and would bother (with the use of would) talks about an ongoing action that happened in the past over a period of time.
You can further eliminate #2 because it is in the present tense, and doesn’t answer the question which is clearly referring to a future action.
Use the past progressive
Here are two new activities that will help your students learn the difference between the Present Perfect and the Past Simple with a career day theme.
A quick follow-up conversation activity is to have students talk about what interested them most about their career. How did they get started? How long have they worked in the field? Use these activities as a model for the grammar practice.
Early on, students learn that the future is formed with will + verb. Later, the going to form of the future is learned. Have you ever noticed how similar the future with going to is to the present progressive?
They are both formed with the present simple form of the verb to be + verb -ing. The difference is in the future with going to, go is not the main verb. In the present progressive, go is the main verb.
Examples:
I’m going to the mall. (go is the main verb)
I’m going to call you later. (call is the main verb)
It’s common to use the present progressive when the main verb is go in the present progressive to refer to an action in the near future. Other verbs can be used in the present progressive to mean the near future.
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