例：My father used to smoke, but now he doesn't. (我父亲以前常吸烟，但现在不抽了。)
现在进行式
动词形式：be动词(am, are, is)+V-ing
原形动词+ing→大部分动词
例：talk→talking say→saying speak→speaking 原形动词字尾有e→去e + ing
例：have→having write→writing come→coming 原形动词为子音+短母音+子音→重复字尾+ing
例：put→putting cut→cutting swim→swimming 例：We are eating breakfast. (我们现在正在吃早餐。)
比较：1. We ate breakfast before going to school. (我们上学前已经吃过早餐。)
2. We eat breakfast every morning. (
我们每天早上吃早餐。) ◎表示现在正在进行的动作。
例：John is watching the baseball game on television. (John正在看电视上的棒球赛。) ◎表不重复发生的动作。常伴随着always, all the time, again and again等副词或副词词组。
例：l. He is always complaining. (他老是抱怨。)
2. The car is breaking down all the time. (这辆车老是故障。)
◎表示最近的未来即将发生的动作。此用法常用于某些动词, 如：come, go, start, leave, arrive等。例：1. I'm leaving for Kenting tomorrow. (我明天前往垦丁。)
2. My boyfriend is coming to see me this afternoon. (我男朋友今天下午即将来看我。) 注意：某些动词不可用于进行式中。
表"感官"的动词→see, hear, smell等。 表"情感"的动词→love，like等。 其它→have, know等
例：I'm seeing the bird in the tree. ( × )
I'm looking at the bird in the tree. (√) (我正在看树上的那只鸟。)
过去进行式
动词的形式：was(were)+V-ing
例：He was playing frisbee in the park then. (
那时他正在公园玩飞盘。) ◎表示过去某一时点正在进行的动作。
例：l. We were playing chess at eight yesterday evening. (昨晚8点我们正在下棋。)
2. Lily was talking a bath when the doorbell rang. (门铃响时Lily正在洗澡。)
◎表示过去时间某一期限中，反复性的动作。
例：1. Whenever I visited him, he was watching TV. (无论何时我去看他，他都在看电视。)
2. In those days, we were getting up at six o'clock. (在那些日子，我们都六点起床。)
末来式
未来式用来表示发生于未来的动作或状态，常用be going to或will。