Spanish Present Progressive Tense
Written by tutor Madina D.
The Present Progressive in Spanish is formed with a conjugated form of the verb “Estar” (to be) and the
Present Participle.
What does this mean?
Estar (conjugated, ex: Estoy) + Present Participle (ex: bailando) = I am dancing (Present Progressive.)
How do I conjugate “Estar” (to be)? It is an IRREGULAR verb, so it’s conjugation (see chart below) must be memorized.
Estar – to be
| Yo – I | Estoy | Nosotros – we | Estamos |
| I am | We are | ||
| Tú – You | Estás | Vosotros – you all | Estáis |
| You are | (Used in Spain) | You all are | |
| Él – He | Está | Ellos* – They | Están |
| Ella – She | (He is, She is) | Ellas – They | (They are) |
| Usted* – You | (You are) | Ustedes – You | (You all are) |
* “Usted” and “Tú” both mean “you”, but “usted” is used either with someone older, someone you may not know well, or to show respect.
* “Ellos” – could be all guys or a mixed group of guys and girls. “Ellas” refers to a group with only girls.
Present Participles
Present participles are very easy to form.
AR Verbs
For “ar” verbs (verbs that end in “ar), such as:
Bailar to dance
Cantar to sing
Trabajar to work
You simple take off the “ar” ending and add “ando”.
Bailar >
Bail >
Bail + ando >
Bailando
Cantar’s present participle would be: Cantando
Trabajar > Trabajando (present participle)
Examples:
Tú estás bailando.
(You are dancing) << Spanish won’t always translate to English so nicely, but when it does, you’re in luck. Ellos están cantando.
(They are singing.)
Nosotros estamos trabajando.
(We are working.)
[DO NOT USE “SER” to be (soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son) to form the “Present Progressive”. ]
ER / IR Verbs
For “er” and “ir” verbs (verbs that end in “er” and “ir”), the Present Participle ending is “iendo”.
Thus, for the following “er” and “ir” verbs,
Comer to eat
Beber to drink
Escribir to write
Take off the ending (“er” / “ir”) and add “iendo”.
Comer > Comer > Com > Comiendo
Beber > Beber > Beb > Bebiendo
Escribir > Escribir > Escrib > Escribiendo
Examples:
Ellas están comiendo arroz.
(They are eating rice)
Nosotros estamos comiendo frijoles.
(We are eating beans.)
Tú estás escribiendo una carta.
(You are writing a letter.)
Irregular Present Participles
There are not an excessive amount of irregular Present Participles, but they do exist. The following are a few
irregular Present Participles.
Common irregular present participles are:
| Decir – to say or tell | diciendo |
| Dormir – to sleep | durmiendo |
| Pedir – to request/ask for | pidiendo |
| Leer – to read | leyendo |
A few more irregular Present Participles are: (You can memorize the ones that you feel will be relevant for your current language level.)
| conseguir | (to get/achieve/obtain) | consiguiendo |
| convertir | (to turn into, change) | convirtiendo |
| mentir | (to lie/to tell lies) | mintiendo |
| repetir | (to repeat) | repitiendo |
| seguir | (to follow) | siguiendo |
| servir | (to serve) | sirviendo |
| sugerir | (to suggest) | sugiriendo |
| venir | (to come) | viniendo |
| poder | (to be able to) | pudiendo |
| morir | (to die) | muriendo |
| caer | (to fall) | cayendo |
| creer | (to believe) | creyendo |
| traer | (to bring) | trayendo |
| construir | (to construct) | construyendo |
| contribuir | (to contribute) | contribuyendo |
| destruir | (to destroy) | destruyendo |
| huir | (to flee) | huyendo |
| incluir | (to include) | incluyendo |
| oír | (to hear) | oyendo |
Present Progressive and Present Participle Quiz
What would the Present Participle be for “estudiar” (to study)?
estudando
estudiando
estudiendo
estudio
What would the Present Participle be for “comprar” (to buy)?
compraste
compraando
compriendo
comprando
What would the Present Participle be for “decidir” (to decide)?
decidando
decidiendo
decido
decidido
Should I use “Ser” to form the Present Progressive?
Yes
No
Is the following correct: “Soy bailando”?
Yes
No