Sentences in the progressive present, past and future tense | Exit Quiz | Oak National Academy

Which of the following are in a progressive tense?

• Jacob was waiting at the bus stop.

• Jacob waited at the bus stop.

• The rain will be coming soon.

• The rain will come soon.

Answer explanation

The progressive tenses use an auxiliary verb based on the infinitive 'to be' and the '-ing' form of the main verb.

Match the progressive sentence to its tense.

• present progressive

• Andeep was eating his lunch quickly.

• past progressive

• Jacob will be waiting for him.

• future progressive

• Andeep is hoping to play basketball.

Answer explanation

The auxiliary verb in a progressive sentence tells us the tense; the main verb is always in its '-ing' form.

What is the auxiliary verb in this progressive sentence? 'Aisha was sitting down when I entered'.

• sitting

• was

• when

• entered

Answer explanation

The auxiliary verb 'was' is helping the main verb 'sitting'. It shows us this is a past progressive sentence.

Which word shows that this sentence took place in the past? 'Andeep and Alex were shivering with cold'.

• were (the auxiliary verb)

• shivering (the main verb)

• and (the conjunction)

Answer explanation

The auxiliary verb 'were' tells us that this is a progressive past tense sentence. The main verb is always in its '-ing' form.

Which of these sentences is in the progressive future tense?

• Aisha's cousin was driving to pick us up from the park.

• Aisha's cousin will be picking us up from the park.

• Aisha's cousin is coming to collect us from the park.

Answer explanation

The auxiliary verbs 'will' and 'be' show us this sentence is in the progressive future tense.

Which sentence shows the progressive past tense version of this simple past tense sentence? 'As the waves crashed on the shore, we lay on the sand'.

• As the waves are crashing on the shore, we are lying on the sand.

• As the waves were crashing on the shore, we were lying on the sand.

• As the waves are crashing on the shore, we will be lying on the sand.

Answer explanation

The auxiliary verb 'were' tells us that the main verb is happening in the past.