Present progressive

am + (base form + -ing) I am working.

is + (base form + -ing) She is eating.
are + (base form + -ing) We are studying.

The present progressive form often implies a process:

Alexei is axing the proposal to cut down the national forest. (is axing is in present progressive form)
Michael and Lulu are skiing far too fast toward that cliff. (are skiing is in present progressive form)

Therefore, the present progressive tense is used for the following reasons:
1. A planned activity.
Sofia is starting school at CEC tomorrow
2. An activity that is occurring right now.
Jan is watching TV right now.
3. An activity that is in progress, although not actually occurring at the time of speaking.
Sara is learning English at CEC.

For example:
Ollie is playing hide-and-seek with his dog Spot.
This sentence means that right now (is playing is in the progressive form of the present tense), as you write or say this
sentence, Ollie is running around the living room looking for Spot, who is easy to find because he ran through that tray of
fluorescent paint.

As opposed to simple present tense:

The single-word form of the present tense may be used for things that are generally true at the present time but not
necessarily happening right now. For example:
Ollie attends wrestling matches every Sunday.
If you call Ollie on Sunday, you’ll get this annoying message he recorded on his answering machine because he’s at the
arena (attends is in present tense). You may also get this message on a Thursday (or on another day) and it is still correct,
even though on Thursdays Ollie stays home to play chess.

Past progressive
was + (base form + -ing) I was working.
were+ (base form + -ing) They were eating.

The past progressive form may pinpoint action or a state of being at a specific time or occurring in the past on a regular
basis.

The past progressive tense is used in the following situations:

1. A past activity is in progress, and something else occurs.
At 6:00 yesterday I was eating dinner.
The phone rang while I was eating.

For example: Gulliver was shopping until he dropped.

In this sentence, Gulliver has a bad habit which constantly happens (he goes shopping every spare moment), and then
something else occurred – he dropped, tired out. There is one verb in past progressive, and (sometimes) a second verb in
simple past tense.

2. Two past activities in progress at the same time.

While I was answering the phone, my wife was cooking dinner.
While Gulliver was shopping, his friends were planning their revenge.
The second sentence means that at the exact moment Gulliver was spending his allowance, his friends were deciding what
time to pour ink into his lunchbox. Both verbs are in past progressive form.

As opposed to simple past tense:

The single-word form of past tense often shows what happened in the past more generally:
Gulliver went to the store and bought clothes for all his little friends.
This sentence means that at some point in the past Gulliver whipped out his charge card and finished off his Christmas list
(went and bought are in past tense).

Future progressive

will be + (base form + -ing) I will be working.

1
 He will be eating.

There isn’t much difference between future and future progressive. The progressive gives you slightly more of a sense of
being in the middle of things. It shows that an activity that will be in progress.
For example:

Tomorrow Sam will be studying for the test on Unit 1.

The actor will be playing Hamlet with a great deal of shouting.

The actor's actions in the sentence above may be a little more immediate than:

The actor will play Hamlet with a great deal of shouting.

In the first example, will be playing is in the progressive form of the future tense. In the second example, will play is in
future tense.