Present progressive I/II: Irregular participles
Review
Remember the construction of the compound present progressive is a conjugated form of estar plus the present participle of the main verb (the -ando or -iendo form). There are some participles, however, that are — you guessed it — irregular. Sort of. The thing about these “irregulars” is that they are not random. Some are stem-changing verbs, specifically -ir stem changers, and some need spelling changes so that they keep the same pronunciation. But what it all boils down to is this: there is a little bit of logic behind all of it, so if you can figure out why the verbs do what they do, you won’t need to memorize as much.
Common “Irregular” Present Participles
-ir stem changers
Infinitives ending in -ir with stem changes (dormir, pedir, repetir, etc.) also have stem changes in their participial forms. The changes are just a little bit different from what you are used to. Verbs with o to ue stem changes (dormir) have o to u stem changes as participles. Verbs with e to i stem changes have the same e to i change.
Verbs with a vowel before the infinitive
Some verbs have a vowel right before the infinitive ending (leer, traer, creer, huir, etc.). In order to make sure these verbs sound like themselves as participles, a y replaces the i of -iendo.
Ir
This one is sort of weird, but understandable. The present participle of ir is yendo.
Next topics:
Some verbs have irregular present participles.
-ir stem changers: o to ue have o to u stem changes in the participle; e to i have e to i.
verbs with a vowel before the infinitive: replace the i of -iendo with a y
ir: yendo
Quick reference:
Additional Resources:
In your textbook (Realidades II):
1. Capítulo 3B
