PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
Present Progressive
• The present progressive is used less frequently
in Spanish than it is in English
• Remember that a present tense verb in
Spanish has three associated meanings:
Yo estudio
I study
I do study
I am studying
• The present progressive signifies that the
action is ongoing/unfinished
Present Progressive
• In English and Spanish the present progressive
requires using a helping/auxiliary verb plus a
present participle (called a gerund)
• English gerunds add -ing to the infinitive
– I am running
– I am reading
• Spanish adds -ando or -iendo to the verb stem
– Yo estoy hablando (if AR verb)
– Yo estoy comiendo (if ER/IR verb)
Present Progressive: Construction
• In Spanish, the most common helping verb is
estar, but seguir and continuar can be used
• Conjugate this verb for the correct subject,
then concatenate the present participle
Estar
Present Participle
estoy
estamos
estás
estáis
está
están
hablar + ando
hablando
Present Progressive: Construction
• In Spanish, the most common helping verb is
estar, but seguir and continuar can be used
• Conjugate this verb for the correct subject,
then concatenate the present participle
Estar
Present Participle
estoy
estamos
estás
estáis
está
están
comer + iendo
comiendo
Present Progressive: Construction
• In Spanish, the most common helping verb is
estar, but seguir and continuar can be used
• Conjugate this verb for the correct subject,
then concatenate the present participle
Estar
Present Participle
estoy
estamos
estás
estáis
está
están
cubrir + iendo
cubriendo
Present Progressive: Construction
• If the original verb was reflexive, the same
rules apply now as before:
THE PRONOUN ALWAYS GOES BEFORE THE CONJUGATED VERB
• For example:
– acostarse:
– acostarse:
Yo me estoy acostando
Yo estoy acostándome
• Since a participle is not a conjugation, it’s ok
to attach (but if attached, one must add an
accent on the originally stressed vowel)
Present Progressive: Caveats
• Sometimes iendo will cause toooooo many
sequential vowels so keep in mind the fact
that Old McDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-o.
• If you have any of these vowels sequences
(forward or backward), change i -> y:
– eie
– oie
– eio
creer+iendo » creiendo » creyendo
oir + iendo » oiendo » oyendo
(can only occur in other tenses/modes)
Present Progressive: Caveats
• There is also a spelling change with -ir verbs
that some characterize as a ½ stem change
– e -> ie
– o -> ue
• This same vowel substitution also occurs in a
few other modalities so while not über-critical
now, it would be good to start practicing
Present Progressive: Caveats
• Take care not to overgeneralize
• Gerunds are very rarely used alone in Spanish
and if it seems like the gerund should be used,
the situation most likely calls for an infinitive
• For example:
– Sleeping is good
Dormir es bueno
– We prefer sleeping Preferimos dormir
– We are sleeping
Estamos durmiendo