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Activities: "How to express the progressive in German?"

By: Babsi Schafer Cabrera

Activity 1: Make it progressive!

Create progressive versions of the following sentences by adding the word(s) in parentheses in the correct spot.

Activity 2: ‘am’ and ‘beim’

How can you translate the following English sentences using am or beim to express progressivity? Here is an example:

Peter is driving his new car. (am)

Peter ist am Fahren seines neuen Autos.

Choose the appropriate level for you!

Part 1: Present tense

  1. Maria is reading her favorite book. (beim)

    .

  2. The cat is playing with her toy. (am)

    .

  3. Peter is cooking pasta. (am)

    .

  4. I am buying a new TV. (beim)

    .

  5. We are listening to the new record. (beim)

    .

Part 2: Various tenses

  1. Monika was working when her mother called. (am)

    .

  2. The dog will be playing in the backyard. (am)

    .

  3. Tim’s brother will be writing his first book next year. (beim)

    .

  4. Get up! Your alarm has been ringing for 10 minutes. (am)

    .

  5. I was taking a shower. (beim)

    .