The Present Progressive Tense To describe in Spanish
The Present Progressive Tense
To describe in Spanish an action that is taking place as you speak use the present progressive (presente progresivo). To do so: - Use the form of estar (to be) that agrees with the subject + a present participle (gerundio). (-ing in English)
n¿Qué está haciendo Chela? n. What is Chela doing right now? n¿Qué haces Chela? n. What is Chela doing? (this weekend. . tonight etc. )
In Spanish, the present progressive describes an action that is ocurring right now. To describe actions going on in the general present, use the present tense.
Compare the following sentences: n. Patricia está escribiendo una carta. n. Patricia is writing a letter. (RIGHT NOW. ) n. Stephen King escribe otra novela. n. Stephen King is writing another novel. (THIS YEAR)
ESTAR – to be yo estoy nosotros estamos tú vosotros estáis estás él/ella ellos/as está ustedes están
To form a present participle: n 1. Drop the ending (-ar, -er, ir) from the infinitive. (Leaving the stem. ) n 2. Add –ando to the stem of –ar verbs. Add –iendo to the stem of –er or – ir verbs. This is the equivalent of the –ing
n. So basically, you are adding – NDO to the verb to make it the equivalent to –ING in English. n. For -AR VERBS: ANDO n. For -IR and - ER VERBS: IENDO
jug + ando vjugar jugando com + iendo vcomer (playing) (eating) comiendo vescribir (writing) escrib+ iendo escribiendo
Subject + ESTAR + ando iendo n. Estar will be conjugated to match the subject of the sentence. (gerund never changes n. Estoy hablando. (I am talking. ) n. Ella está comiendo. (She is eating. )
v. If the stem of an –er or –ir verb ends in a vowel, -iendo changes to –yendo. (i y) vleer leyendo (reading) vtraer trayendo(bringing) voír oyendo (hearing)
The stem vowel of some -ir verbs changes from e i ndecir diciendo ndivertirse divirtiendo pidiendo npedir sirviendo nservir
“-ir” stem-changing verbs n The following verbs normally change from e ie but they will only change from e i in the past participle. ndivertirse nsentirse npreferir
“-ir” stem-changing verbs n The following verbs normally change from e i in the present and the participles. ndecir npedir nrepetir nseguir vestirse
The stem vowel of some -ir verbs changes from e i diciendo saying divirtiéndose enjoying onself pidiendo asking for sirviendo serving
The stem vowel of some -ir verbs changes from o u. ndormir durmiendo sleeping nmorir muriendo dying
“-ir” stem-changing verbs n The following verbs normally change from o ue in the present but only o u in the participle. ndormir nmorir
n. Pronouns can either go before “estar” (the conjugated verb) or attached to the participle. nducharse n. Me estoy duchando. n. Estoy duchándome.
n. I’m doing it. (la tarea) n. La estoy haciendo. n. Estoy haciéndola. n. NOTE: When attaching a pronoun you add an accent to the “a” of -ando and the “e” of –iendo.
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