Present simple ("go"), past simple ("went"), and future simple ("will go") tenses are very important to learn in English and each of them has their own reasons, but you cannot use only these tenses to describe everything. In this lesson we will look at the reasons why you need to know the continuous tenses and how to use them correctly.
There are a few points that are consistent about continuous tenses, whether it’s future continuous, present perfect continuous, past continuous or past perfect continuous.
They are created by using the “be” verb and another verb in -ing form
They emphasize that something continued happening for a relatively long period of time
They describe an action or situation that was already started when another event happened
These points will be studied below, mainly by looking at future continuous, present perfect continuous, past continuous, and past perfect continuous.
Present continuous is also important but it is probably the easiest and most familiar for English learners already so we’ll be looking at the others in this lesson.
Future Continuous = will + be + ing (ex. “they will be waiting or you”)
Future continuous tense can describe an action or event in the future if it’s a longer duration (not a short, quick action) and there are two main reasons for using it:
1. To emphasize that something in the future will be continuous for the whole duration of a future time period. For example, if you say “I’ll be staying at my brother’s house this weekend” it makes it clear to us that this action/situation of “staying at my brother’s house” will continue for the whole period of “this weekend”.
If you use regular future simple and say: “I will stay at my brother’s house this weekend”, we don’t know if you are staying for just one night or the whole weekend, so future continuous tense makes it clear that the action continues for the whole time period.
Some examples:
Next week at this time, I’ll be lying on the beach!
I’ll be working from home tomorrow.
My will be getting fixed this afternoon so I'll take the bus home.
In 50 years, regular people will be traveling to space for a holiday and in 100 years, some people will be living on Mars.
2. To explain that something in the future will already be happening (already started happening) when another action happens in the future.
For example, if you say “We will be eating dinner when you get home from work” it means that the action of “eating dinner” will start first and already be happening when the other action of “get home from work” happens.
When you come out of the subway station, I’ll be waiting outside in the car. (waiting starts first)
When you get home tonight, be quiet, because the baby will be sleeping. (sleeping starts first)
If you call me in the next hour, I won’t be able to answer because I’ll be driving. (driving starts first)
Present Perfect Continuous = has/have been + ing ("I have been waiting for you")
Present perfect continuous tense does one simple thing: it connects the past to the present, so it tells us that something started in the past and is still happening now. The most common reason to use this tense is to tell us the duration of something up until now.
I've been working since 5am this morning. (I'm still working now)
They've been talking on the phone for an hour. (and they are still talking on the phone now)
Real estate prices have been increasing for over 10 years. (and they're still increasing now)
Even without adding a duration, you can still use present perfect continuous tense to make something sound like it started a long time ago in the past (relative to the situation). You can think of it like a long term trend.
Your son and daughter have been growing so fast! (this is not just a few weeks or months)
The weather has been getting colder. (this is not just a few days)
My English has been improving. (this is not just a recent improvement)
Past Continuous = was/were + ing (“I was waiting for you”)
Past continuous tense is not the same as present perfect continuous because past continuous is about a finished time period. If you are talking about last week, last month, last year, etc. you can use past continuous, but you cannot use present perfect continuous. Past continuous is completely disconnected from the present.
There are two main reasons to use past continuous:
1. To emphasize that something in the past continued happening for all or most of the time period mentioned.
In 2015 I was working for a telecommunications company.
Ten years ago, I was eating junk food every day, but now I don’t even look at it.
Throughout my twenties, I was saving money for a trip around the world for my 30th birthday.
2. To communicate that something in the past was already happening (started earlier) than another action mentioned using past simple .
For example, if you say: “the band was playing music when we entered the concert hall”, it means the band started playing earlier than when you entered (they were already playing when you entered). It helps us understand time order between the two events. It’s important to mention that this means you saw the band playing when you entered (there is a connection between the two events).
I couldn’t attend my friend’s wedding because I was living abroad. (living abroad started first)
He injured his leg while he was playing basketball. (playing basketball started first)
When I met my husband for the first time, I was waiting in line at the supermarket. (waiting started first)
In the examples above, the past continuous situation creates a period of time and the past simple action happened during this period of time.
Past Perfect Continuous = had + been + ing (“I had been waiting for you”)
The main difference to remember with past perfect continuous related to past continuous is that past continuous connects with the past simple event also described. Remember the earlier example: “the band was playing when we entered the concert hall” – this means we saw the band playing.
If you change past continuous to past perfect continuous and say “the band had been playing music when we entered the concert hall”, it means that we did not see the band playing because their “playing music” happened completely before we entered (they finished before we entered).
In the examples below, past perfect continuous tense makes it clear that an action or event with a continuous duration happened and finished before the other event happened:
He died from lung cancer last year. He had been smoking for many years. (smoking before he died)
I passed my exam last week. I had been studying so hard for it. (studying before I passed)
The company’s President was removed from his position. He had been stealing money from the company. (stealing before he was removed)
In the 3 examples above, the past perfect continuous action was completed before the past simple action happened:
In the first example, stealing happened and then he was removed (he was not stealing when he was removed).
In the second example, smoking happened before he died (he didn’t die while smoking).
In the third example, studying happened before passing the exam (I didn’t study during the exam).
Practice
Change the following underlined verbs into the tense in the brackets in order to make the sentence correct:
We will raise our kids for many years until they start university someday. (future continuous) = "We will be raising our kids for many years until they start university someday."
Next year, my daughter will compete for gymnastics in the young adult division. (future continuous)
Next week, the government will host an international summit of global leaders. (future continuous)
She was sleeping for ten hours. (present perfect continuous)
The police were investigating the crime for a few weeks (present perfect continuous)
I was gaining weight. (present perfect continuous)
I shopped at the supermarket when I saw her. (past continuous)
The kids played in the backyard when they found the kitten. (past continuous)
Fans waited outside when the players came out of the stadium after the game. (past continuous)
Her parents bought her the toy that she was asking for. (past perfect continuous)
When we bought the house, we didn’t realize that criminals were living there. (past perfect continuous)
Answer the following questions based on the meaning of each continuous tense sentence:
He had been living with his parents. - does he still live with her now?
He has been living with his parents. – does he still live with her now?
The police closed off the area because ice was falling off the tall buildings. – did they see the ice fall?
The police closed off the area because ice had been falling off the tall buildings – did they see the ice fall?
He'll come into the room in a few minutes and we will hide. – will he see everyone doing the action of hiding when he enters?
He'll come into the room in a few minutes and we will be hiding. – will he see everyone doing the action of hiding when he enters?
Choose the correct tense. Some answers will not be in continuous tense:
When I entered the museum, a tour guide started/was starting a tour of the museum. Luckily, he let me join even though I missed the first two minutes.
The Queen came out and waved to everyone who stood/was standing/had been standing outside.
I finally ate the meal that I was preparing/had been preparing for two days.
He wasn't coming/hasn't been coming to class since last Monday. I hope he's okay.
I finally watched the movie that all my friends talked about/had been talking about.
Next year, I will quit/will be quitting my job.
She went to the dentist to get help for her tooth. It has been aching/had been aching for days but it's fine now.
I have a pension so even when I’m retired I will receive/will be receiving regular income.
I answered all of the interview questions well because I was practicing/had been practicing.
Someone had been stealing/has been stealing cars in the neighborhood. We must find him!
When I stepped outside, it was raining/had been raining, so I got wet.
When I stepped outside, I noticed that the ground was wet because it was raining/had been raining earlier.
Answers
Change the following underlined verbs into the correct tense in brackets:
We will be raising our kids for many years until they start university someday.
Next year, my daughter will be competing for gymnastics in the young adult division.
Next week, the government will be hosting an international summit of global leaders.
She has been sleeping for ten hours.
The police have been investigating the crime for a few weeks.
I have been gaining weight.
I was shopping at the supermarket when I saw her.
The kids were playing in the backyard when they found the kitten.
Fans were waiting outside when the players came out of the stadium after the game.
Her parents bought her the toy that she had been asking for.
When we bought the house, we didn’t realize that criminals had been living there.
Answer the following questions based on the meaning of each continuous tense sentence:
No, this was before something else in the past, such as "he moved into his own apartment last weekend. He had been living with his parents."
Yes he does because present perfect continuous means something is still happening now.
Yes because past continuous and past simple connect in time (but past continuous started earlier)
No because past perfect continuous doesn't connect with past simple (past perfect continuous happened completely before and ended before the past simple situation)
Yes because this sounds like they will hide at the same time as he enters (or after he enters).
No because future continuous starts earlier so they will already be hiding before he enters.
Choose the correct tense. Some answers will not be in continuous tense:
When I entered the museum, a tour guide was starting a tour of the museum. Luckily, he let me join even though I missed the first two minutes.
The Queen came out and waved to everyone who was standing outside.
I finally ate the meal that I had been preparing for two days.
He hasn't been coming to class since last Monday. I hope he's okay.
I finally watched the movie that all my friends had been talking about.
Next year, I will quit my job.
She went to the dentist to get help for her tooth. It had been aching for days.
I have a pension so even when I’m retired I will be receiving regular income.
I answered all of the interview questions well because I had been practicing.
Someone has been stealing cars in the neighborhood. We must find him!
When I stepped outside, it was raining, so I got wet.
When I stepped outside, I noticed that the ground was wet because it had been raining earlier.
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