Progressive tense is not a common topic when writers talk about writing. In fact, based on some contest comments I’ve received in the past, I think I can say with confidence that some writers wouldn’t recognize the progressive tense if it was staring them in the face.
What makes me say this? Because I’ve written sentences similar to “John was walking down the road” and had judges suggest I change it to “John walked down the road.” Why? Because that judge had latched onto the word “was” and thought my sentence was passive. Only if I had written “The road was walked down by John” would the sentence have been passive.
But back to progressive tense. What is it and when should it be used?
According to Sin and Syntax: How To Craft Wickedly Effective Prose, the progressive tense “comes into play when we are talking about an action as it is regarded over time. The progressive tenses convey a sense of ongoing or not-yet-completed action.” The author goes on to say that the past progressive (the tense most of us would be using) “kicks in for something that was happening in some previous time.”
According to the Chicago Manual of Style: “When joined with a verb’s present participle, it [the verb to be] denotes continuing or progressive action {the train is coming} {the passenger was waiting}. When joined with a past participle, the verb becomes passive {a signal was given} {an earring was dropped}.
The Chicago Manual of Style also says: “If an inflected form of to be is joined with the verb’s present participle, a progressive conjugation is produced {the ox is pulling the cart}. The progressive conjugation is in active voice because the subject is performing the action, not being acted on.”
So don’t be afraid to use the progressive tense. In fact, I often find it to be the most effective way of describing an action. Thus, when I am writing and use a progressive tense, I’m showing ongoing action, which is not a bad thing to do.
