GAMES Apuntes 1.3_ El Presente Progresivo

Present Progressive

A grammatical tense used to indicate an ongoing action, formed with an auxiliary verb and a present participle.

Estar + Present Participle

The structure in Spanish to form the Present Progressive, using the verb 'estar' followed by a verb in the gerund form.

Present Participle

The form of a verb used in continuous tenses, typically ending in -ing in English.

Regular Formation of Present Participle

For regular verbs, remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add -ando (for -ar) or -iendo (for -er/-ir) to create the participle.

Irregular Present Participles

Present participles that do not follow regular patterns; examples include 'yendo' (from ir), 'pudiendo' (from poder), and 'viniendo' (from venir).

Stem-changing Verbs

Verbs that experience a change in the stem vowel when conjugated; this change occurs in present participles for -IR verbs.

Double-vowel Infinitives

Infinitives where the second-to-last vowel is also a vowel; they change the 'i' to 'y' in the present participle form, e.g., 'leyendo' from 'leer' and 'oyendo' from 'oír'.

Usage of Present Progressive

Describes an action that is currently taking place at the moment of speaking.

P.P. Restrictions in Spanish

The Present Progressive is used less frequently in Spanish than in English and does not replace the Simple Present for ongoing or future situations.

Example: Sara está yendo al mercado

Illustrates the Present Progressive: Sara is going to the store right now.