Progressive Forms by Julie Gutin
Progressive tenses are used to show ongoing action. In English, progressive tenses are formed with the verb “to be” and the present participle. The same is true in Spanish — the main verb in Spanish progressive tenses is estar. To refresh your memory, here are the conjugations of estar in the present indicative:
estoy |
estamos |
estás |
estáis |
está |
están |
The most commonly used progressive is the present progressive tense. In English, we often rely on this tense to talk about things that are going on right now, as opposed to regularly. Compare the following two sentences:
She talks to me. (in general)
She is talking to me. (right now)
In Spanish, even actions that take place “right now” may be described with the present indicative form: Ella habla conmigo. However, if you want to highlight the fact that the action is occurring right now (this minute), you can use the present progressive form and say Ella está hablando conmigo.
ESSENTIAL</h2>
<p>The verb <B>seguir</B> (to follow, to continue) is occasionally employed in progressive constructions as well. For example, <B>sigo hablando</B> means “I keep on speaking” or “I am speaking.”</p>
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<h2>Forming the Present Participle</h2>
<p>Present participle is a verbal form that corresponds to the English form ending in -ing: going, walking, talking, and so on. In Spanish, a present participle is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the correct present participle ending:</p>
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<h2>
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<tbody>
<tr>
<td><p><B>verb group</B></p></td>
<td><p><emphasis role="bold">present participle
ending</emphasis></p></td>
<td><p><B>examples</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>-ar verbs</p></td>
<td><p>-ando</p></td>
<td><p><B>hablando (speaking)</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>-er verbs</p></td>
<td><p>-iendo</p></td>
<td><p><B>corriendo (running)</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>-ir verbs</p></td>
<td><p>-iendo</p></td>
<td><p><B>viviendo (living)</B></p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<p>Only a few present participles are irregular. If the stem of an -er and -ir verb ends in a vowel, its present participle ending is -yendo:</p>
<table frame="all" width="100%">
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<colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="30%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><p><B>caer</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>cayendo</B></p></td>
<td><p>falling</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>creer</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>creyendo</B></p></td>
<td><p>believing</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>leer</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>leyendo</B></p></td>
<td><p>reading</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>oír</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>oyendo</B></p></td>
<td><p>hear</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p><B>traer</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>trayendo</B></p></td>
<td><p>bringing</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<p>Present participle forms of -ir verbs also retain the stem change that occurs in the third person singular form of the preterite tense (covered in Chapter 11):</p>
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<img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/spanish-grammar/p111-001.jpg" format="JPG">
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<p>The only other irregular forms are <B>pudiendo</B> (the present participle form of <B>poder,</B> “can”) and <B>yendo</B> (going).</p>
<title>In Other Tenses</h2>
<p>Present progressive is just one of several progressive tenses. In each tense, the present participle remains the same, but the form of <B>estar</B> is conjugated differently. In the present progressive, <B>estar</B> is conjugated in the present indicative. The rest of the progressives are organized as follows:</p>
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<colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="30%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><p><B>progressive form</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>the conjugation form of estar</B></p></td>
<td><p><B>example</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<entry/>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>past progressive</p></td>
<td><p>imperfect tense</p></td>
<td><p><B>estaba hablando</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<entry/>
<td><p></td>
<td><para>(I was talking)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>past progressive</p></td>
<td><p>preterite tense</p></td>
<td><p><B>estuve hablando</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<entry/>
<td><p></td>
<td><para>(I was talking)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>future progressive</p></td>
<td><p>future tense</p></td>
<td><p><B>estaré hablando</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<entry/>
<td><p></td>
<td><para>(I will be talking)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>conditional progressive</p></td>
<td><p>conditional tense</p></td>
<td><p><B>estaría hablando</B></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<entry/>
<td><p></td>
<td><para>(I would be talking)</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<div class="npsb">
<title> QUESTION</h2>
<p><B>Why are there two different past-tense progressive forms?</B> If you haven't had an introduction to preterite and imperfect past tenses, you might be confused to see that progressive forms have two different past-tense forms. However, once you learn about these tenses, you'll be able to see the difference in meaning between <B>estaba hablando</B> and <B>estuve</B> <B>hablando.</B></p>
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