Verb Notebook
Advanced Spanish
Present Progressive Tense Verbs
(-ing verbs)
Present Progressive Tense Notes
4 Present progressive tense
To form the present progressive, simply conjugate the verb estar to agree
with the subject of the sentence, and follow it with the present
participle(also called a gerund/gerundio). (The present participle/gerund
is merely the "-ing" form of a verb.)
Ex: I am talking Estoy hablando.
He is eating Está comiendo
estoy
estamos
estás
estáis
está
Gerundio (the –ing
thing) 
están
How to form gerundios of regular verbs:
1: drop the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir)
2: add –ando for –ar verbs and –iendo for –er/-ir verbs
hablando
comiendo
viviendo
Continuation of notes
When to use it
• In English, present progressive can be used to
describe what is happening now, or what will
happen in the future.
– I am studying now.
– I am studying with María tonight.
• In Spanish, the present progressive is only used
to describe an action that is in the process of
taking place. It is not used for future actions.
– I am studying now.(use present progressive)
– I am studying with María tonight.
(do not use present progressive)
Continuation of notes
• Remember, only use the present progressive for actions that
are "in progress." Compare the uses of the present indicative
with the uses of the present progressive.
– Estudio español. (Present Indicative)
I study Spanish.
I am studying Spanish (these days).
I do study Spanish.
– Estoy estudiando español. (Present Progressive)
I am studying (right now, at this moment) Spanish.
• It is important to remember that you would never use the
present progressive to say something like "We are going to
Spain this summer." Use present progressive only for actions
that are "in progress."
Continuation of notes
Irregular Gerunds
• To form the present participle of -ir stem
changing verbs, change e:i and o:u in the
stem, and then add -iendo to the stem of
the verb.
– servir: sirviendo
pedir: pidiendo
decir: diciendo
– dormir: durmiendo
morir: muriendo
Continuation of notes
• Sometimes when forming the present
participle it is necessary to change the
spelling of a word so that it agrees with the
way it is pronounced. We call this an
"orthographic" change. *most are “double vowel” verbs
– creer: creyendo
ir: yendo
influir: influyendo
oír: oyendo
traer: trayendo
leer: leyendo
Continuation of notes
• When using the present progressive tense
with reflexive verbs or object pronouns,
the pronouns can be placed before the
conjugated form of estar or attached to
the end of the present participle/gerund.
– Me estoy divirtiendo OR Estoy divirtíendome
– Él se está acostando OR él está acostándose
• A written accent is almost always needed
to keep the original stress when attaching
the pronouns to the end of the gerund.
Credits
Excerpted from: www.mendycolbert.com
Adapted by: Beth Ranucci