The Present and Imperfect Progressive

Although it’s not really a “tense” in its own right, we occasionally use a verb form known as the “progressive.” Progressive verb forms indicate that an action is ongoing or currently taking place. Progressives require a form of the verb “to be” and what’s known as a “present participle.” In English, a present participle is a verb form ending in “-ing.”

I am studying.

In this example we see the two components we need: “am” is a form of “to be” and “studying” is the present participle. What about Spanish? Read on:

Present Participles

Let’s looks at present participles first. Whereas in English we form present participles by using “-ing” endings, in Spanish we will add “-ando” to the stem of “-ar” verbs and “-iendo” to the stem of both “-er” and “-ir” verbs.

infinitive:	ending:	present participle:
hablar	-ando	hablando
comer	-iendo	comiendo
vivir	-iendo	viviendo

There are (always) some exceptions, however…

Spelling Changes

If we follow the normal present participle procedure, certain verbs are going to be difficult to pronounce. Take “leer” for example. When we add “-iendo” to the stem, “le-,” we end up with “leiendo.” It’s hard to know how to say this word because there are three vowels in the middle of it. To fix the three vowel problem, we take the “i” and replace it with a “y”: “leyendo.” This makes the word easier to pronounce. Most “-er” or “-ir” verbs whose stem ends in a vowel will require an “i → y” spelling change. Some common examples:

infinitive:	three vowels:	i→y spelling change:
caer	caiendo	cayendo
contribuir	contribuiendo	contribuyendo
creer	creiendo	creyendo
leer	leiendo	leyendo
incluir	incluiendo	incluyendo
oír	oiendo	oyendo

An exception to the spelling change rule are “-guir” verbs. Take “distinguir.” While the stem does end in a vowel (“distingu-”), here the “u” is not actually being pronounced. Its sole purpose is to keep the “g” from being pronounced like an “h” due to the vowel following it. Because of that, even though there are three vowels in a row, a spelling change is not necessary.

infinitive:	stem:	present participle:
distinguir	distingu-	distinguiendo

Another spelling change to consider is when the stem of an “-er” or “-ir” verb ends in “-ñ.” The “ñ” already has a “y” sound built-in, so to speak, so adding “-iendo” isn’t really necessary. You can get away with just “-endo.”

infinitive:	stem:	present participle:
gruñir	gruñ-	gruñendo

Stem Changing “-ir” Verbs

There is one other issue with present participles and that occurs with stem changing “-ir” verbs. In addition to the “o→ue,” “e→ie,” and “e→i” stem changes in their present tense conjugations, these verbs have stem changes in their present participle forms. They will either have an “o→u” stem change, or an “e→i” stem change. Some examples:

infinitive:	present tense:	present participle:
pedir	pido (e→i)	pidiendo (e→i)
servir	sirvo (e→i)	sirviendo (e→i)
sentir	siento (e→ie)	sintiendo (e→i)
mentir	miento (e→ie)	mintiendo (e→i)
dormir	duermo (o→ue)	durmiendo (o→u)
morir	muero (o→ue)	muriendo (o→u)

We’ve only talked about half of the equation so far, we still need to discuss the “to be.” In Spanish, in all of our progressive forms, we’ll be using the verb estar. Which tense should we use? That depends on what type of progressive form we want to use.

The Present Progressive

If the action we’re referring to is happening now (in the present), we use the present progressive. To form the present progressive, simply use a present tense conjugation of estar with a present participle:

estoy estamos estás estáis está están

+ present participle

For example:

Estoy comiendo.
I am eating.

Estás leyendo.
You are reading.

Ellos están mirando la televisión.
They are watching television.

It’s worth noting at this point that if you have an object pronoun of any sort (reflexive, direct, or indirect), you have two options as to where to put it. You may either put it in front of your conjugation of estar, or you may attach it to the end of your present participle. (Attaching an object pronoun will require adding an accent mark to preserve the original stress.) Either way is perfectly acceptable and your sentence will mean exactly the same thing.

option 1:
¡Ramón se está cayendo!
Yo lo estoy leyendo.
Mi abuela me la está dando.

option 2:
¡Ramón está cayéndose!
Yo estoy leyéndolo.
Mi abuela está dándomela.

The Imperfect Progressive

If we want to refer to an action that was happening (at some point in the past), we use the imperfect progressive. As the name would imply, this time we’ll use an imperfect tense conjugation of estar with a present participle:

estaba estábamos estabas estabais estaba estaban

+ present participle

For example:

Ellos estaban estudiando.
They were studying.

Nosotros estábamos practicando futbol.
We were practicing soccer.

Ella le estaba mintiendo a la maestra.
She was lying to the teacher.

Other Verbs Used with Present Participles

Most of the time estar is used in progressive situations, but not always. There are some other verbs you can combine with a present participle too. Your choice of verb will subtly change the meaning of the sentence.

Seguir + Present Participle

Switch estar with seguir (or continuar) if you want to stress the action is a continuation of an action that began in the past. A good way to translate this is to include the word “still”:

Sus sobrinas siguen jugando baloncesto.
Her nieces are still playing basketball.

Ircania sigue estudiando biología en la universidad.
Ircania continues studying biology at the university.

Ir + Present Participle

Change estar into ir to emphasize the action is progressing slowly but surely.

Enrique va mejorando cada día.
Enrique is improving little by little each day.

Mis hijas van aprendiendo italiano.
My daughters are learning Italian bit by bit.

Andar + Present Participle

Use andar instead of estar to indicate that the action is pointless or not very productive. Normally andar means “to walk,” but in this context a better translation is “to go around”:

Camila anda gritando tu nombre.
Camila is going around shouting your name.

Ellos andan diciendo mentiras.
They are going around telling lies.

Other Progressive Tenses

While the present and imperfect progressive forms are the most common, we’re not limited to the present and the past. We can form progressives with any tense, such as the future, the conditional, or even the subjunctive.

Estaremos conduciendo.
We will be driving.

Yo estaría durmiendo.
I would be sleeping.

Espero que tú estés divirtiéndote.
I hope that you are having fun.

The Preterite Progressive

It may sound like an oxymoron, but there is also a “Preterite Progressive.” The difference between the imperfect progressive and the preterite progressive is much the same as the difference between the imperfect and the preterite — a definitive time frame. Using the preterite progressive also emphasizes that the action was ongoing, but then stopped abruptly when interrupted. The preterite progressive is not very common.

Ayer estuvimos practicando hasta que ella vino.
We were practicing yesterday until she came.

Estuve estudiando hasta que mi hermana llamó.
I was studying until my sister called.

Lo siento. ¿Estuviste leyendo?
I’m sorry. Were you reading?