Coursera

Questions, Present Progressive and Future Tenses (Coursera)

Offered by University of California, Irvine,

In this course, “Questions, Present Progressive and Future Tenses,” you will learn about question words in English and how to form questions in the simple present. Then you will learn how to form the present progressive to express ideas about things that are happening right now. You will look at the differences between the simple present and present progressive. Finally, you will learn how to use “to be going to” and the present progressive to talk about the future and how to use “can” to talk about ability.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 2 of 3 in the Learn English: Beginning Grammar Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Information Questions Simple Present
We will start this week with question words. You will learn how to ask information questions in the simple present. Information questions are questions where the answer is not "yes" or "no." The answer is some information. For example, “Where are you?” is an information question because the answer is not “yes.” It is, “I’m at school.”

WEEK 2
Count/Noncount Nouns & Present Progressive
This week, you will learn more about nouns: count nouns and non-count nouns. This will help you ask questions like “How many brothers do you have?” and “How much time do you need?” Then we will look at the present progressive. This is another verb tense in English. The present progressive tells about things that are happening now. You will learn about how to form it and also how to make the negative.

WEEK 3
Present Progressive Question & Signal Words
This week is all about asking questions with the present progressive. You will learn how to ask yes/no questions and information questions. Then we will compare simple present and present progressive so you can see when to use each. You will learn about signal words and the difference between sentences like “I speak English” and “I am speaking English.”

WEEK 4
Future Forms & Can
Now that you know how to form the present progressive, this week you will see how we use “be going to” and the present progressive to talk about the future. You will also learn how to use “can” to talk about what you can and can’t do.

Go to Class

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Coursera

Yonsei University

First Step Korean (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

This is an elementary-level Korean language course, consisting of 5 lessons with 4 units, and covers 4 skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. The main topics include basic expressions used in everyday life, such as greetings, introducing yourself, talking about your family and a daily life and so on. Each lesson covers dialogues, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, quizzes and role-plays.

Oct 5th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Languages Korea Korean

Coursera

Georgia Institute of Technology

Build Your Professional ePortfolio in English (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

Roughly half of the world’s population is already online and so setting yourself apart from the crowd is more important than ever before. One of the best ways to do that is by creating your own ePortfolio. An ePortfolio is a site that showcases or shows your background, your resume, and samples of your work. In this course, you will learn step by step how to build the site and you’ll learn the grammar, vocabulary and writing skills needed to create it. You will learn how to apply information from your ePortfolio to other online tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube in order to network with others so that you get a job or connect with other professionals.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

English Grammar Vocabulary

Coursera

University of California, Irvine

Tricky English Grammar (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

English is a difficult language to learn because of its many obscure grammatical rules, which are fairly easy to mess up--even for native speakers. While it’s easy for non-native speakers to get overwhelmed by confusing grammar rules, in this course, we'll provide you with tips that will help you understand the rules more easily and give you lots of practice with the tricky grammar of everyday English.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

English Languages Grammar

Coursera

University of California, Irvine

Perfect Tenses and Modals (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

This is the first course in the Learn English: Intermediate Writing specialization. In this course, you will learn about important intermediate verb tenses, including present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive. You will also learn about common modal verbs used in English. This course is designed for learners who have a basic understanding of English grammar but who want to learn more and improve their skills for everyday speaking or writing, as well as for academics. It will be a fun class with lots of entertaining and informative video lectures.

Sep 28th 2026

4 Weeks

Learning English Grammar

Coursera

Commonwealth Education Trust

Writing for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

This course is for curious students and aspiring authors with a passion for writing for young readers. Participate in a dynamic online community of writers as you experiment with your own writing and develop your voice. This course will guide you with a combination of video lectures, online readings, peer reviews, and guest appearances from world-renowned children’s authors. As you work through the writing exercises, you will give and receive feedback from your peers and gain tools and techniques for improving your writing.

Sep 21st 2026

5-12 Weeks

English Writing Publishing

Coursera

University of Washington

Business English: Making Presentations (Coursera)

Business

This course teaches you language and techniques that will help you make effective presentations in English. The final task is to develop a well-organized, persuasive presentation using charts and graphs that sells your city as a venue. The course focuses on students who have an intermediate level of English, with a minimum of two years of formal language study.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

English Effective Presentations Presentations

Coursera

Rice University

English and Academic Preparation - Grad Track (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

The English and Academic Preparation – Grad Track course is for students with a (minimum) advanced level of English. It is designed to help international students strengthen their English while developing academic skills necessary for success in graduate studies at an American university. Ideally, prospective students have completed or are near completion of a bachelor’s degree in their country and would like to come to the United States to study for a master’s or doctorate degree.

Oct 5th 2026

4 Weeks

English Reading Critical Thinking

Coursera

Duke University

English Composition I (Coursera)

Humanities Languages & Literature

You will gain a foundation for college-level writing valuable for nearly any field. Students will learn how to read carefully, write effective arguments, understand the writing process, engage with others' ideas, cite accurately, and craft powerful prose. Course Learning Objectives: summarize, analyze, question, and evaluate written and visual texts; argue and support a position; recognize audience and disciplinary expectations; identify and use the stages of the writing process; identify characteristics of effective prose; apply proper citation practices; discuss applying your writing knowledge to other writing occasions

Sep 28th 2026

5-12 Weeks

English Languages Composition

Coursera

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - HKUST

English for Effective Business Speaking (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

This course aims to improve your Business English speaking skills by developing your use of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spoken communication skills within a Business context, and your ability to deliver professional business speeches for specific purposes. Skills learned in this course will be used in the cross-cultural communications course and help prepare you to deliver the professional business presentation in the Capstone project.

Sep 21st 2026

5-12 Weeks

Speaking English Language Communication Skills

Coursera

University of California, Irvine

Adjectives and Adjective Clauses (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

Being able to adeptly use adjective clauses in speaking and writing is useful for upper level English learners. Adjectives and adjective clauses are very common in English, so students need to be able to understand them when they see them or hear them. Students often struggle to bring complexity to their speaking and writing and adjective clauses can be a great way to do this.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

English Languages English Language

Coursera

University of California, Irvine

Teaching Tips for Tricky English Grammar (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

This is the third course in the Teach English: Intermediate Grammar specialization. It will be useful to ESL teachers or those interested in learning to teach English language, but it is not an introduction to teaching course. You will learn about some specific problems students have learning intermediate grammar. You will learn why students have trouble with this tricky grammar and find out new ways to help students conquer it.

Sep 21st 2026

4 Weeks

English Languages English Language

Coursera

Lund University

Writing in English at University (Coursera)

Languages & Literature

Acquiring good academic research and writing skills early on is essential for your success both at university and in your professional life. This course aims: - to give you an understanding of the conventions of academic writing in English and to teach you the components and benefits of what is called process writing. - to help you to put together your own “toolbox” of academic writing skills, as well as to give you a chance to test out these tools and to reflect on your own development as a writer. - to encourage reflection on discipline specific conventions; although the course deals with generic skills, you will be able to apply these generic skills to meet the particular needs of your own discipline.

Oct 5th 2026

4 Weeks

English Writing English Writing