continuous tense

English

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").
   • 1985, Robert Burchfield, The English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 152:

     Traditional grammar places great stress on [...] tenses of verbs and tense-equivalents, including the complications of the continuous tenses (he is writing the book all over again)[.]

Synonyms

• progressive tense