Progressive Aspect

The continuous and progressive aspects ( abbreviated and ) are grammatical aspects that express incomplete action ("to do") or state ("to be") in progress at a specific time: they are non-habitual, imperfective aspects.

In the grammars of many languages the two terms are used interchangeably. This is also the case with English: a construction such as ''"He is washing"'' may be described either as ''present continuous'' or as ''present progressive''. However, there are certain languages for which two different aspects are distinguished. In Chinese, for example, ''progressive'' aspect denotes a current action, as in "he is getting dressed", while ''continuous'' aspect denotes a current state, as in "he is wearing fine clothes".

As with other grammatical categories, the precise semantics of the aspects vary from language to language, and from grammarian to grammarian. For example, some grammars of Turkish count the -iyor form as a present tense; some as a progressive tense; and some as both a continuous (nonhabitual imperfective) and a progressive (continuous non-stative) aspect.

Continuous versus progressive

The progressive aspect expresses the ''dynamic'' quality of actions that are in progress while the continuous aspect expresses the ''state'' of the subject that is continuing the action. For instance, "Tom is reading" can express dynamic activity: "Tom is reading a book" – i.e. right now (progressive aspect), or Tom's current state: "Tom is reading for a degree" – i.e. Tom is a student (continuous aspect). The aspect can often be ambiguous; "Tom is reading Ulysses" may describe his current activity (it's in his hand), or the state of having started, but not yet finished, the book (it's in his bag).

Continuous and progressive in various languages

Unless otherwise indicated, the following languages treat continuous and progressive aspects the same, in which case the term continuous is used to refer to both.

English

Use

The continuous aspect is constructed by using a form of the copula, "to be", together with the present participle (marked with the suffix ''-ing''). It is generally used for actions that are occurring at the time in question, and does not focus on the larger time-scale. For example, the sentence "Andrew was playing tennis when Jane called him." indicates what Andrew was doing when Jane called him, but does not indicate for how long Andrew played, nor how often he plays; for that, the simple past would suffice: "Andrew played tennis three hours every day for several years."

Salikoko Mufwene contrasts the effect of the progressive form on the meanings of action verbs versus those of lexically stative verbs:
:# converts events expected to be punctual into longer-lasting, even if transient, states of affairs .g., "Nancy is writing a letter"
:# it onersely converts those states of affairs expected to last long (lexical statives) to shorter-lasting / transient states of affairs .g., "Tom is living with us" and
:# it simply presents those verbs whose denotations are neutral with regard to duration as in process / in (transient) duration .g., "The wall is cracking" though duration is most expected of statives.

Origin

The progressive aspect in English likely arose from two constructions that were used fairly rarely in Old and Early Middle English. The first used a form of beon/wesan (to be/to become) with a present participle (-ende). This construction has an analogous form in Dutch (see below). The second used beon/wesan, a preposition, and a gerund (-unge), and has been variously proposed as being influenced by similar forms in Latin and French or British Celtic, though evidence one way or another is scant. Over the course of the Middle English period, sound shifts in the language meant that the (-ende) participle ending and the (-unge) gerund ending merged into a new ending, (-ing). This change, which was complete in southern England around the late fifteenth century and spread north from there, rendered participles and gerunds indistinguishable. It is at this point that a sudden increase in the use of progressive forms is visible, though they would not take their current form until the eighteenth century. Linguist Herbert Schendl has concluded that "with this feature, a polygenetic origin ... seems attractive, and at least the further extension of the progressive is a language-internal development."

Berber

In the Amazigh language, past continuous is formed by using the fixed participle (original meaning: I forgot); is added before the verb that is in the present tense. So we have:

: he writes / he is writing

: he was writing

Present continuous is usually the same as the present tense. But in the Riff variety of Berber, the participle is added before the verb to form present continuous.

Chinese

Chinese is one family of languages that makes a distinction between the continuous and progressive aspects.

Cantonese

Cantonese has a very regular system for expressing aspects via verb suffixes. is typically used to express progressive aspect while is used to express continuous aspect. Take the following example:

In the example, the progressive aspect expresses the fact that the subject is actively putting on clothes rather than merely wearing them as in the continuous aspect. This example is useful for showing English speakers the difference between continuous and progressive because "wearing" in English never conveys the progressive aspect. (Instead, "putting on" must be used).

In Cantonese, the progressive marker can express the continuous aspect as well, depending on the context (so the example above could also mean "I'm wearing clothes" in addition to "I'm putting on clothes"), but in general, the progressive aspect is assumed. In order to emphasize the progressive aspect rather than the continuous, (literally meaning "at here") can be used in front of the verb:

can also be used without to indicate the progressive aspect.

Mandarin

Unlike Cantonese, Mandarin does not have a verb suffix for expressing the progressive aspect, but it can use the pre-verbal auxiliary ''zhèngzài'' (or just ), similar to how Cantonese uses in front of the verb. The continuous aspect does have a verb suffix, ''zhe'', which is cognate with the Cantonese in this context.

For more information see .

Danish

Danish has several ways of constructing continuous aspect.

* The first is using the form + infinitive ("is at" meaning "in the process of"). For instance ("he is at to build new house") meaning "he is building a new house". This is similar to the German form using "".
* Some verbs are always or default continuous, for instance verbs indicating motion, location or position, such as ("sitting"), ("standing"), ("lying") or ("walking"). This means their present tense forms are their continuous forms: ("he stands there") means "he is standing over there", and ("I sit down"), means "I am sitting". Note this means Danish often has two different forms of simple verbs when they make sense both continuous and non-continuous – English has only one such fully functional pair remaining, and it happens to share this one with Danish ("to lay") and ("to lie") – "Lay down so you can lie down".
* Using these default continuous verbs together with a non-default continuous verb makes both continuous. This is a form also used in other Germanic languages such as Norwegian and Dutch. For instance: ("he stands and smokes") means "he is smoking (while standing)".
* Another form is used for motions such as walking, driving or flying. When constructing perfect tense they can be constructed with either 'is' or 'has'. Where 'has' indicates a completed travel, and 'is' indicates a started journey. For instance ("he is walked") meaning "he has left (on foot)", versus meaning "I have flown (at some point in time)".

Dutch

The continuous aspect is commonly used in Dutch, though not as often as in English. There are various methods of forming a continuous:
* One form is the same as in English: ''zijn'' (''to be'') with the present participle, e.g., ''Het schip is zinkende'' (''The ship is sinking''). This form puts stress on the continuous aspect and often gives some dramatic overtone, making it not commonly used.
* The second method is the most common in Dutch. It is formed with ''zijn'', followed by the preposition and definite article ''aan het'' and the gerund (verb used as a noun), e.g., ''Ik ben aan het lezen'' (literally ''I am at the reading''), meaning ''I am reading''.
* The third method is by using a verb expressing a physical position, like ''zitten'' (''to sit''), ''staan'' (''to stand''), ''liggen'' (''to lie''), followed by ''te'' and the infinitive. Examples: ''Ik zit te lezen'' (lit. ''I sit to read''), meaning ''I am reading (while sitting)'', ''Ik stond te wachten'' (lit. ''I stood to wait''), meaning ''I was waiting (while standing)'', ''Zij ligt te slapen'' (lit. ''She lies to sleep''), meaning ''She is sleeping (while lying down)'', ''Wij lopen te zingen'' (lit. ''We walk to sing''), meaning ''We are singing (while walking)''. When translating into English or another language, the physical position generally isn't mentioned, only the action itself. In English, similar constructions exist but are uncommon and marginally more frequent only in certain dialects, e.g. ''I sat (there) reading'', ''I stood (there) waiting'', etc.
* A fourth method, also available in English, is using ''zijn'' (''to be'') with the adverb and preposition ''bezig met'' (''busy with'') and the gerund, e.g., ''Ik ben bezig met lezen'' (lit. ''I am busy with reading''), meaning ''I am (busy) reading''. If there is an object, there are two forms: 1. the gerund is preceded by the neuter article ''het'' and followed by the preposition ''van'' (''of'') and the object, e.g. ''Ik ben bezig met het lezen van deze brief'' (lit. ''I am busy with the reading of this letter''), meaning ''I am reading this letter''; 2. the object comes before the full infinitive (instead of the gerund), e.g. ''Ik ben bezig met deze brief te lezen'' (lit. ''I am busy with this letter to read''), meaning ''I am reading this letter''. This form of the continuous is mostly used for a real (physical) activity. Grammar-wise, it is possible to say ''zij is bezig te denken'' (lit. ''she is busy to think'', she is thinking) or ''hij is bezig te slapen'' (lit. ''he is busy to sleep'', he is sleeping), but it sounds strange in Dutch. In these cases, other forms of the continuous are generally used, specifically the second method: ''Zij is aan het denken'' and ''hij is aan het slapen''.
* A fifth method also involves the use of ''zijn'' (''to be'') with the adverb ''bezig'' (''busy''), this time followed by ''te'' and the infinitive, e.g. ''Ik ben bezig te koken'' (lit. ''I am busy to cook''), meaning ''I am cooking''. If there is an object, it comes before the verb, e.g. ''Ik ben bezig aardappelen te koken'' (lit. ''I am busy potatoes to cook''), meaning ''I am cooking potatoes''. This form is also mainly used for real activities. ''Zij is bezig te denken'' and ''Hij is bezig te slapen'' are uncommon.
* The sixth method is a special form of the continuous. It implicitly means that the subject is away to do an activity. It uses ''zijn'' (''to be''), followed by the infinitive, e.g., ''Zij is winkelen'' (lit. ''She is shop''), meaning ''She is (away) shopping''.

French

French does not have a continuous aspect per se; events that English would describe using its continuous aspect, French would describe using a neutral aspect. Many express what they are doing in French by just using the present tense. That being said, French can express a continuous sense using the periphrastic construction ''être en train de'' ("to be in the middle of"); for example, English's "we were eating" might be expressed in French either as ''nous étions en train de manger'' (literally "we were in the middle of eating"), or as simply ''nous mangions'' ("we ate").

An exception is in relating events that took place in the past: the imperfect has a continuous aspect in relation to the simple (historic) past; e.g. ''nous mangions quand il frappa à la porte'' ("we were eating when he knocked at the door"). However, the passé composé is more often used to denote past events with a neutral aspect in a non-narrative context.

It is also possible to use the present participle, e.g. ''Nous mangeant, il frappait à la porte'', or the ''gerund'' (Gérondif).

Quebec French often expresses a continuous sense using the periphrastic construction ''être après'' (lit. "to be after"); for example, English's "we were eating" might be expressed in Quebec French either as ''nous étions après manger'', or as simply ''nous mangions'' (imparfait).

Jèrriais

Formed exactly as in Rhenish German, Jèrriais constructs the continuous with verb ''êt' '' (be) + à (preposition) + infinitive. For example, ''j'têmes à mangi'' translates as ''we were eating''.

German

There is no continuous aspect in standard German. The aspect can be expressed with ''gerade'' (''just now, at the moment'') as in ''er liest gerade'' meaning ''he is reading''. Certain regional dialects, such as those of the Rhineland, the Ruhr Area, and Westphalia, form a continuous aspect using the verb ''sein'' (''to be''), the inflected preposition ''am'' or ''beim'' (''at the'' or ''on the''), and the neuter noun that is formed from an infinitive. This construction was likely borrowed from Low German or Dutch which use the exact construction to convey the same meaning. For example, ''ich bin am Lesen'', ''ich bin beim Lesen'' (literally ''I am on/at the reading'') means ''I am reading''. Known as the ''rheinische Verlaufsform'' (roughly ''Rhenish progressive form''), it has become increasingly common in the casual speech of many speakers around Germany through popular media and music, although it is still frowned upon in formal and literary contexts.The colloquial 'rheinische Verlaufsform' is covered in an amusing article by Bastian Sick, see http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/0,1518,350958,00.html In Southern Austro-Bavarian, the aspect can be expressed using ''tun'' (''to do'') as an auxiliary with the infinitive of the verb as in ''er tut lesen'' for ''he is reading'' (cf. English ''he does reading'').

Hawaiian

In Hawaiian, the present tense progressive aspect form ''ke'' + verb + ''nei'' is very frequently used.

Hindi-Urdu

Hindi-Urdu

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