Download The Present Progressive

The Present Progressive
The Present Progressive expresses an action that is taking place right now.
The Present Progressive has two components:
A conjugation of Estar and a present participle.
Notice that the name of this tense has two words 1-Present and 2-Progressive.
The first part, Present, refers to the present tense conjugation of the verb Estar, and the
second part, Progressive, refers to the Participle. The participle is the "-ing" form of a verb.
We form the participle in Spanish by dropping the -ar, -er, or -ir from the infinitive of a verb
and adding one of two endings, -ando or -iendo.
We form the participle in Spanish by dropping the -ar, -er, or -ir from the infinitive of a verb
and adding one of two endings, -ando or -iendo.
to all -Ar verbs, add -ando
1) Hablar [to talk]
2) Habl-ar = habl3) Habl+ando = hablando [talking]
to -Er and -Ir verbs, add -iendo
1) Comer [to eat]
2) Com-er = com3) Com+iendo = comiendo [eating]
1) Escribir [to write]
2) Escrib-ir = escrib3) Escrib+iendo = escribiendo (writing)
We combine these participles with a form of Estar to form the Present Progressive to describe
what people are smack in the middle of doing:
Estoy hablando.
I am talking. (Right now)
Él está comiendo.
He is (in the middle of) eating.
Estamos escribiendo.
We are (currently) writing.
Están estudiando.
They are (at this moment) studying.
Only "-ir" Stem-changing verbs continue to stem-change in the participle with a small
difference.
They go to a single letter stem-change:
•
•
O-->UE stem-changers change from O--> U;
Both E-->IE as well as E-->I stem-changers change from E---> i.
Decir [to Say or Tell]
diciendo
Dormir [to Sleep]
durmiendo
Pedir [to Request or Ask For]
pidiendo
As might be expected, there are a few irregular Present Participles.
Adding the double vowel "-iendo" to -Er and -Ir stems (which already end in a vowel) leaves the
weak unaccented"i" in the middle. It isn't able to stand up between two strong vowels. The "i" will
need to be replaced with a "Y" in the participle:
Creer [to Believe]
creyendo (the weak "i" in the middle of
vowels will change to a "y"
Leer [to Read]
leyendo (see?)
Oír [to Hear]
oyendo (easy!)