Lesson-PresentContinuous

Present Progressive (Present Continuous) – refers to an action that is happening or “going on” right now.Example:

• I am studying now – (yo)Estoy estudiando ahora.

Observe that in English, to compose that structure, was used the person I, verb to be conjugated according to the person – “I am” and the action that is happening with the suffix “ing”.

Forming this kind of structure in Spanish is easy and very similar to English. You just need the person, conjugate in the present tenseverb estar according to the person that you want to refer, and finally use the action that is going on right now.

There are basically 2 equivalents for “ing” in Spanish. Each equivalent depends on the termination of the verb in its infinitive form.

 In the chart below, observe how to add the suffix to the verb. You drop the termination of the verb and add the suffixes “ando”, “iendo” and “iendo”

Now observe how to form the Present Continuous in Spanish:

Examples:

• Yo estoy hablando. – I’m talking.
• Tú estás hablando. – I’m talking.
• Ella está hablando. – She is talking.
• Él está hablando. – He is talking.
• Usted está hablando. – You are talking .– formal
• Nosostros estamos hablando. – We are talking.
• Ellos están hablando. – They are talking.
• Ustedes están hablando. – You are talking. – formal

Note

For verbs ending in uir and for verbs that have their roots ending in vowels, the equivalent to ing would be yendo. Observe the charts below:

In the chart below, observe how to add the suffix to the verb. You drop the termination of the verb and add the suffixes “yendo”.

Examples:

• Yo estoy leyendo. – I’m reading.
• Tú estás leyendo. – You are reading.
• Ella está leyendo. – She is reading.
• Él está leyendo.  – He is reading.
• Usted está leyendo.  – You are reading. – formal
• Nosostros estamos leyendo.  – We are reading.
• Ellos están leyendo.  – They are reading.
• Ustedes están leyendo.  – You are reading. – formal