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Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Tense, Aspect and Verb Forms

Progressive aspect

Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples

/prəˌɡresɪv ˈæspekt/nounCommon term

In linguistics & grammar, progressive aspect means: The verb form made with be plus the -ing form, used to show that an action is in progress, temporary or unfinished at a certain time, as in 'She is working'.

In Turkish: sürerlik görünüşü, süreklilik görünüşü

How it is used

Linguists say progressive; coursebooks usually say continuous (present continuous, past continuous). It combines with any tense and with the perfect. Stative verbs like know and believe are rarely used in the progressive.

Example sentences

  1. 'I was cooking when you called' uses the progressive aspect for the longer, background action.

  2. Turkish -yor covers some uses of the progressive aspect but also habits, so learners say 'I am going to work every day'.

Common collocations

  • present progressive
  • past progressive
  • perfect progressive
  • continuous tenses
  • aspectA grammatical category that shows how an action unfolds in time, for example whether it is ongoing, completed or repeated, rather than when it happens.
  • tenseA grammatical category, shown by the form of the verb, that places an event in time relative to the moment of speaking, such as present or past.
  • present perfectA verb form made with have or has plus a past participle, used to link a past action or state to the present, as in 'I have lost my keys'.
  • auxiliary verbA verb used with a main verb to form tenses, questions, negatives and the passive, mainly be, have and do, plus modal verbs such as can and will.

More terms: Tense, Aspect and Verb Forms

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