"continuous tense" meaning in English

See continuous tense in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: continuous tenses [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} continuous tense (plural continuous tenses)
  1. (grammar) A verb tense expressing ongoing action; in English, any of the tenses formed with the present participle, namely present continuous ("I am dreaming"), past continuous ("I was dreaming"), present perfect continuous ("I have been dreaming"), past perfect continuous ("I had been dreaming"), future continuous ("I will be dreaming") or future perfect continuous ("I will have been dreaming"). Categories (topical): Grammar Synonyms: progressive tense
    Sense id: en-continuous_tense-en-noun-2quV~leL Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for continuous tense meaning in English (2.0kB)

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  "forms": [
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      "form": "continuous tenses",
      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "continuous tense (plural continuous tenses)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Grammar",
          "orig": "en:Grammar",
          "parents": [
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            "Communication",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A verb tense expressing ongoing action; in English, any of the tenses formed with the present participle, namely present continuous (\"I am dreaming\"), past continuous (\"I was dreaming\"), present perfect continuous (\"I have been dreaming\"), past perfect continuous (\"I had been dreaming\"), future continuous (\"I will be dreaming\") or future perfect continuous (\"I will have been dreaming\")."
      ],
      "id": "en-continuous_tense-en-noun-2quV~leL",
      "links": [
        [
          "grammar",
          "grammar"
        ],
        [
          "present participle",
          "present participle"
        ],
        [
          "present continuous",
          "present continuous"
        ],
        [
          "past continuous",
          "past continuous"
        ],
        [
          "present perfect continuous",
          "present perfect continuous"
        ],
        [
          "past perfect continuous",
          "past perfect continuous"
        ],
        [
          "future continuous",
          "future continuous"
        ],
        [
          "future perfect continuous",
          "future perfect continuous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(grammar) A verb tense expressing ongoing action; in English, any of the tenses formed with the present participle, namely present continuous (\"I am dreaming\"), past continuous (\"I was dreaming\"), present perfect continuous (\"I have been dreaming\"), past perfect continuous (\"I had been dreaming\"), future continuous (\"I will be dreaming\") or future perfect continuous (\"I will have been dreaming\")."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "progressive tense"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "continuous tense"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "continuous tenses",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "continuous tense (plural continuous tenses)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "en:Grammar"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A verb tense expressing ongoing action; in English, any of the tenses formed with the present participle, namely present continuous (\"I am dreaming\"), past continuous (\"I was dreaming\"), present perfect continuous (\"I have been dreaming\"), past perfect continuous (\"I had been dreaming\"), future continuous (\"I will be dreaming\") or future perfect continuous (\"I will have been dreaming\")."
      ],
      "links": [
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        [
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        ],
        [
          "past continuous",
          "past continuous"
        ],
        [
          "present perfect continuous",
          "present perfect continuous"
        ],
        [
          "past perfect continuous",
          "past perfect continuous"
        ],
        [
          "future continuous",
          "future continuous"
        ],
        [
          "future perfect continuous",
          "future perfect continuous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(grammar) A verb tense expressing ongoing action; in English, any of the tenses formed with the present participle, namely present continuous (\"I am dreaming\"), past continuous (\"I was dreaming\"), present perfect continuous (\"I have been dreaming\"), past perfect continuous (\"I had been dreaming\"), future continuous (\"I will be dreaming\") or future perfect continuous (\"I will have been dreaming\")."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "progressive tense"
    }
  ],
  "word": "continuous tense"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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