Present Progressive I

Introduction/Review

You should know the conjugations of estar in the present tense before beginning this section (they are below for a quick refresher, but make sure you are totally comfortable with them).

The present progressive is a compound tense -- a tense formed with two verbs. If you have studied the phrasal future (ir + a + infinitive), you are familiar with this idea. The present progressive is used much more frequently in English than in Spanish, although it is still a useful thing to know. It is used to talk about things that are happening right now -- actions that are in progress as you speak. In English, this means things like, "I am cooking," or "Mary is sleeping." Notice that there are two verbs involved: a form of "to be," and then the main verb in the -ing form (otherwise known as a present participle).

Forming the Present Progressive

There are two parts to the present progressive: a normally conjugated form of estar (which you already know how to do), and a present participle (which you will learn how to make right now). A present participle is the -ing form of a verb in English. To form the present participle in Spanish, you will take the stem of your main verb and add a special ending to it.

-ar verbs: stem + ando (caminar: camin + ando = caminando)

-er/-ir verbs: stem + iendo (comer: com + iendo = comiendo; escribir: escrib + iendo = escribiendo)

More examples:

hablar: hablando; bailar: bailando; cantar: cantando

beber: bebiendo; vivir: viviendo; decidir: decidiendo

Once you can make present participles, the rest is easy. You simply conjugate estar as usual to match your subject, and then make the present participle of the main verb, and just place the two together.

Examples:

Yo estoy bailando. (I am dancing.)

Ella está comiendo. (She is eating.)

Nosotros estamos estudiando para el examen. (We are studying for the test.)

Ustedes están escribiendo un ensayo. (You are writing an essay.)

Choosing between the Present and Present Progressive

In English, you may use the present progressive even more than you use the plain present tense. In Spanish, the reverse is true. You should only use the present progressive when the action is literally taking place as you speak.