Imperfect II: Imperfect progressive
Review/Introduction
The present progressive is the first progressive tense you learned about. It is used to talk about actions that are taking place as you speak. Like the present progressive, the imperfect progressive is used to discuss actions that were taking place in an exact moment. The imperfect progressive is also nearly identical in structure to the present progressive — the only difference is that estar will be conjugated in the imperfect rather than the present. The participle part is exactly the same.
Formation
Here is the structure of the imperfect progressive:
And here are some examples:
yo (comer)
Yo estaba comiendo. (I was eating.)
ella (bailar)
Ella estaba bailando. (She was dancing.)
nosotros (estudiar)
Nosotros estábamos estudiando. (We were studying.)
The imperfect progressive is very similar to the present progressive, except that it is used to describe the past instead of the present. It is formed with the imperfect conjugation of estar plus the present participle of the main verb.
Quick reference:
Next topics:
Additional Resources:
In your textbook (Realidades II):
1. CapÃtulo 5B
imperfect conjugation of estar + present partciple of main verb (-ando/-iendo form) = imperfect progressive
