Present Progressive
In English the Present Progressive is used to speak about actions that are in progress
and also to talk about the future. Consider these examples:
What are you doing?
Tomorrow we are flying to Chile.
In Spanish the Present Progressive tense is used much less, and NEVER to talk about
future actions. You use it to emphasize that an action is ongoing. So, to express “What
are you doing?” in Spanish you could use the progressive, but to express “Tomorrow we
are flying to Chile” you would not.
The Present Progressive tense makes use of two verb forms: the verb estar and the
present participle form of the action in progress.
Forming the Present Participle
In English, the present participle is the verb form that ends in “-ing.” To form it in
Spanish, add the ending -ando to -ar verb stems and -iendo to -er and -ir verb stems,
like this:
Infinitive Verb
Present Participle
English
hablar
hablando
speaking
comer
comiendo
eating
vivir
viviendo
living
There are only two exceptions to this rule:
1. The -er and -ir verb stems ending in a vowel use -yendo rather than iendo. (including ir)
For example: construir  construyendo, ir  yendo, leer  leyendo
2. The -ir stem-changing verbs use the ei and ou pattern.
For example:
pedir  pidiendo, repetir  repitiendo, morir  muriendo, dormir  durmiendo
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Present Progressive
Present Progressive
To form the present progressive tense, use the present tense form of the verb estar
together with the present participle form like this:
Yo estoy estudiando español.
I am studying Spanish.
Ellos están durmiendo hoy.
They are sleeping today.
Tú estás comiendo pan.
You are eating bread.
Present Progressive
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