Spanish Lección 5 - The Present Progressive

Vocabulary and grammar rules for forming the present progressive in Spanish, including regular and irregular present participles.

Present progressive

A construction consisting of the present tense of the verb estar and a present participle used to say what people are doing right now.

Present participle (-ar verbs)

Formed by adding -ando to the verb stem, such as hablando for the verb hablar.

Present participle (-er and -ir verbs)

Formed by adding -iendo to the verb stem, such as comiendo (comer) and escribiendo (escribir).

-yendo

The ending used for the present participle of -er or -ir verbs when the stem ends in a vowel, such as leyendo, oyendo, and trayendo.

yendo

The irregular present participle of the verb ir.

pudiendo

The irregular present participle of the verb poder.

viniendo

The irregular present participle of the verb venir.

ir stem-changing verbs (present participle)

Verbs that have a stem change in the present tense also have a stem change in the present participle ($e \rightarrow i$ or $o \rightarrow u$).

preferir (present participle)

prefiriendo ($e:ie$ in present tense; $e \rightarrow i$ in present participle).

sentir (present participle)

sintiendo ($e:ie$ in present tense; $e \rightarrow i$ in present participle).

conseguir (present participle)

consiguiendo ($e:i$ in present tense; $e \rightarrow i$ in present participle).

pedir (present participle)

pidiendo ($e:i$ in present tense; $e \rightarrow i$ in present participle).

seguir (present participle)

siguiendo ($e:i$ in present tense; $e \rightarrow i$ in present participle).

dormir (present participle)

durmiendo ($o:ue$ in present tense; $o \rightarrow u$ in present participle).

Simple present vs. Present progressive

In Spanish, the simple present is used for future actions or actions over time (e.g., 'Tomo inglés este semestre'), whereas the progressive emphasizes an action is currently in progress.