The progressive tenses indicate something in progress — the equivalent of “to be + — ing” in English. The progressive tenses are conjugated with estar as the auxiliary verb plus the present participle. For example, present progressive uses the present form of estar: estoy estudiando (I am studying).

The present participle in English is the “— ing” form of the verb (also known as a gerund). In Spanish, it's the ndo — form. The formation of the Spanish present participle is fairly easy.

• Regular — AR verbs: Drop the infinitive ending and add ando; hablar — hablando. —

• Regular — ER and — IR verbs: Drop the infinitive ending and add iendo; aprender — aprendiendo, escribir — escribiendo. —

• Verbs with stems that end in vowel: Drop the infinitive and add — yendo; leer — leyendo.

• — IR verbs with stem-change in third-person preterite form keep that stem change: decir — diciendo.

• Ir (to go) has an irregular gerund: yendo.