The progressive tenses and the present participle in Spanish

1. El participio presente
y la construcción progresiva
*The present and past progressive tenses are compound verb
tenses that express what is (currently) happening right now or
what was happening over a period of time.
**You need two things: 1. the verb estar conjugated
2. the present participle
(-ing word)
Estar = to be
Present Imperfect
Estoy I am estaba I was
Estás you are estabas you were
Está he/she is, you are estaba he/she was, you were
Estamos we are estábamos we were
(Estáis you are) (estabais you were)
Están …are estaban they,you were
Present Participle (El Participio Presente)
Chop off –AR, add –ANDO Chop off –ER/-IR, add -IENDO
Ex. hablar – ar + ando = hablando
comer – er + iendo = comiendo
vivir – ir + iendo = viviendo

2. Irregular Present Participles
**some participles have irregular spellings
Sentir (to feel) – sintiendo
Pedir (to ask for) – pidiendo
Dormir (to sleep) – durmiendo
Venir (to come) – viniendo
Poder (to be able) – pudiendo
Ir (to go) – yendo
Oír (to hear) – oyendo
Traer (to bring) – trayendo
Leer (to read) – leyendo
Construir (to build) – construyendo
Progressive Construction
*ESTAR + present participle = is,am,are,was,were verbing
Ex. Elena está arreglando su coche.
*CONTINUAR, IR, SEGUIR + present participle = to keep on,
continue verbing
Ex. 1 ¿Por qué sigues trabajando?
Ex. 2 Va caminando a pesar de la lluvia.

3. Pronoun Placement and the Participle
Pronouns can go before the conjugated verb or after and
attached the present participle. When it’s attached to the
present participle, an accent is placed on the second-to-last
syllable of the participle in order to keep its original stress.
Ex. 1 Me estoy lavando las manos.
Estoy lavándome las manos.
Ex. 2 Clara se está pintando la boca.
Clara está pintándose la boca.