All 7 Continuous Tenses in English 01
All 7 Continuous Tenses in English 01
Stative Verbs
DO NOT use the continuous tense with stative verbs. These are verbs that describe a
state and not an action. Some common stative verbs are: know, understand, like,
hate, have, mean.
✅ I have a fever.
You are describing your current state / condition.
Present Continuous
We use this to describe actions that are happening right now, actions that are
temporary, or actions that are developing.
Happening now:
Process:
Note: “I will show you” - An action that will start and finish in the future, but the
emphasis is not on the continuous nature of this action.
Past Continuous
We use this to describe continuous actions that happened in the past…
■ I have been living in Spain since 2005. (started in 2005, is till true now)
■ We have been learning Italian for 3 years. (started 3 years ago, still true now)
■ I’m exhausted because I have been running. (I am not running now, but the
effect is still present.)
Past Perfect Continuous
We use this when we have 2 actions in the past and one continuous action started
before the next one. We form it using “had been” + verb-ing.
■ I had been looking for my wallet for hours before Molly found it!
■ My daughter had been feeling ill all morning, so we took her to the doctor’s
office.
■ In the year 2028, I will have been living in Spain for 15 years. (a prediction)
■ You will have been baking for 3 hours when the guests arrive this evening.
■ He will have been teaching English for 20 years in June. (emphasises the
duration)
■ When he retires, he will have taught English for 40 years. (future perfect tense,
emphasises the completion of an action)
Test
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the continuous tense.