¡Hola, amigos! In both English and Spanish, the progressive present (presente progresivo) shows you something that is happening right now, kind of like in slow motion!
Let’s see a few examples:
Juan is eating pizza.
Juan está comiendo pizza.
We are playing soccer.
(Nosotros) estamos jugando fútbol.
I am enjoying this party.
(Yo) estoy disfrutando esta fiesta.
Awesome news! You can actually skip studying most rules for this tense as they’re pretty similar in both languages. This way, you’ll save some time and focus on more important things that’ll help you learn better.
CONJUGATION
Wanna take your Spanish skills to the next level? The good news is, the progressive present in Spanish is super easy to form!
All you gotta do is use the verb estar (to be) in the simple present, followed by a gerund (root + ando for ar verbs, root + iendo for er and ir verbs).
Let’s start with ar verbs! Check out what Vicente, a Spanish expert from Spain, has to say about it:
| Person | Estar | Gerund |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estoy | |
| tú | estás | |
| usted | está | |
| él ella | está | hablando |
| nosotros nosotras | estamos | |
| ustedes | están | |
| ellos ellas | están |
| vos | estás | hablando |
| vosotros vosotras | estáis |
You are also interested in learning about er and ir verbs. How about we take comer (to eat) as a model and listen to Martina from Argentina to understand it better?
| Person | Estar | Gerund |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estoy | |
| tú | estás | |
| usted | está | |
| él ella | está | comiendo |
| nosotros nosotras | estamos | |
| ustedes | están | |
| ellos ellas | están |
| vos | estás | comiendo |
| vosotros vosotras | estáis |
And now, let’s play!
