Korean Progressive Tense Verbs+고 있다

Korean Progressive Tense Verbs+고 있다

This pattern expresses the progression or continuation of an action and is the equivalent of ‘-ing’ form in English. It is formed by adding -고 있다 to the stems of verbs. To express the continuation of an action that occurred sometime in the past, -고 있었다 is used.

가다 + -고 있다 -> 가고 있다

먹다 + -고 있었다 -> 먹고 있었다

How To Use Verbs+고 있다 to Build a Sentence?

댄 씨가 지금 음악을 듣고 있어요.Dane is listening to music now.

서울에서 살고 있어요. I am living in Seoul.

To express that an action simply occurred in the past, the simple past form -았/었어요 is used.

A: 어제뭐했어요? What did you do yesterday?

B: 집에서 쉬고 있었어요. (wrong)

-> 집에서 쉬었어요. (correct) I relaxed at home.