Verbs in the present and past progressive

Let's practise

Tick which verb form is used in the sentence below.

The children are playing a skipping game in the school gym.

present
present progressive
past
past progressive

  • Read the question carefully and read it again. What is it asking you to do?
Show me

It is asking you to identify the verb form.

  • First, find the verb in the sentence.
Show me

are and playing are parts of a verb form

  • The first verb of a combination tells you which time (or tense) the verb form is in.
Show me

are is in the present tense

  • There is a second part to the verb which means it could be a progressive verb form.
Show me

The verb form is progressive because it ends with -ing.

  • The verb form uses the present and the progressive forms.
Show me

present progressive

  • Check your answer.