Grammar 6.2: The present progressive tense

 

In both Spanish and English, this tense always consists of 2 elements: 

• A conjugated "to be" verb
• A gerund

 

In English, our only "to be" verb conjugates this way in the present tense:

• "I am, you are, he/she is, we are, you (plural) are, they are" 

In English, our gerunds end in "-ing".

• So, "I am walking"  and "You are reading" are examples of the present progressive tense in English.

In Spanish, the same 2 elements make up the present progressive tense.

They are always:

• 1. A present-tense conjugated form of the "to be" verb "estar"
• Remember that the yo-form of "estar" in the present tense is "estoy".
• Please use accent marks where they are required: "estás", "está" and "están" ("estamos" has NO accent).
   
• 2. The gerund (present participle) of a second verb.
• Spanish gerunds always end in -ndo.
• When working with the present progressive tense, if you find yourself writing a second word that does not end in -ndo, please stop yourself, because you're doing it wrong.

Basic gerund formation in Spanish

 

With a few exceptions, which we'll see in a minute, it's very simple:

Gerunds of -AR verbs:

• Derive the stem by removing the -AR infinitive ending.
• Leave the stem alone.
• Add -ando to the stem.
• That's it!

Basic gerund formation in Spanish

 

Gerunds of -ER verbs whose stems do not end in vowels

• Derive the stem by removing the -ER infinitive ending.
• Leave the stem alone.
• Add -iendo to the stem.
• That's it!

Basic gerund formation in Spanish

Gerunds of -IR verbs whose stems do not end in vowels AND that do not stem change in the present tense

• Derive the stem by removing the -IR infinitive ending.
• Leave the stem alone.
• Add -iendo to the stem.
• That's it!

Before we move on to the more complicated gerunds, let's practice with the basic skills we just learned.

• Remember: we always start the present progressive by conjugating "estar" in the present tense. The gerund comes after that.

Raúl __________ (caminar) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: está
• Now make the gerund of "caminar":
• Stem=camin + ending=ando
• Our gerund is caminando
  
   
• Raúl está caminando.

Tú __________ (pensar) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: estás
• Now make the gerund of "pensar":
• Stem=pens + ending=ando
• Our gerund is pensando
   
• Tú estás pensando.

More practice with basic gerunds:

• Remember: we always start the present progressive by conjugating "estar" in the present tense. The gerund comes after that.

Yo __________ (correr) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: estoy
• Now make the gerund of "correr":
• Stem=corr + ending=iendo
• Our gerund is corriendo
   
• Yo estoy corriendo.

Nosotros ________ (entender) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: estamos
• Now make the gerund of "entender":
• Stem=entend + ending=iendo
• Our gerund is entendiendo
   
• Nosotros estamos entendiendo

More practice with basic gerunds:

• Remember: we always start the present progressive by conjugating "estar" in the present tense. The gerund comes after that.

Ustedes __________ (escribir) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: están
• Now make the gerund of "escribir":
• Stem=escrib + ending=iendo
• Our gerund is escribiendo
   
• Ustedes están escribiendo.

Mi mamá ________ (exigir) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: está
• Now make the gerund of "exigir":
• Stem=exig + ending=iendo
• Our gerund is exigiendo
   
• Mi mamá está exigiendo

Let's talk about our first non-basic gerund group: -ER and -IR verbs whose stems end in vowels.

• Your book says gerunds of this type are "irregular", but that's a bunch of hooey. 
• These gerunds have an extra step, but it's totally predictable, and it happens in every verb of this type. Let's see it.

Yo __________ (caer) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: estoy
• Now make the gerund of "caer":
• Stem=ca + ending=iendo
• Our gerund is NOT caiendo
• Unaccented "i" between 2 vowels becomes a Y--always.
• Yo estoy cayendo.

Tú __________ (oír) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: estás
• Now make the gerund of "oír":
• Stem=o + ending=iendo
• Our gerund is NOT oiendo
• Unaccented "i" between 2 vowels becomes a Y--always.
   
• Tú estás oyendo.

Let's talk about our second non-basic gerund group: -IR verbs that stem change in the present tense

• Your book says gerunds of this type are "irregular", but that's absolute nonsense. 
• These gerunds have an extra step, but it's totally predictable, and it happens in every verb of this type. 
• It's this:
• If the -IR verb stem changes e to ie or e to i in the present tense, the last vowel in the stem must become an "i" before the gerund ending "iendo" can be added.
• If the -IR verb stem changes o to ue in the present tense, the last vowel in the stem must become a "u" before the gerund ending "iendo" can be added.
• It's NOT irregular. It's a predictable process. It's just *different*.
• There are very few truly irregular present participles in Spanish, and we'll see them on a later slide.

Ella __________ (pedir) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: está
• Now make the gerund of "pedir":
• Initial stem=ped 
• This -IR verb stem changes.
• "Ped" has to become "pid"
  
   
• Now we can add the "iendo" gerund ending.
• Ella está pidiendo.

Tú __________ (dormir) 

• Conjugated "estar" first: estás
• Now make the gerund of "dormir":
• Initial stem=dorm 
• This -IR verb stem changes.
• "Dorm" has to become "durm"
   
• Now we can add the "iendo" gerund ending.
• Tú estás durmiendo.

To close, there are 2 verbs whose gerunds ARE actually irregular, and you must memorize them:

 

• The irregular gerund of "ir" is "yendo". (This is a fairly common gerund. Please memorize it.)
• Example sentence:
  Este autobús está yendo hacia Miami.
   
• The irregular gerund of "poder" is "pudiendo" (this almost never gets used in the language, though. It's not a big deal.)

Final considerations for the present progressive tense:

In Spanish, we only use the present progressive for actions actually in progress at the current moment. If I say "Estoy escribiendo" it means I'm writing right now.

• If I want to describe an action in progress over time, I cannot use the present progressive.
• For example: "I'm writing my dissertation this semester" is NOT said with "estoy escribiendo". 
• Instead, the regular present tense is used: "Escribo la tesis doctoral este semestre."
   
• The present progressive is never used for future actions.
• For example: "I'm eating lunch with a friend on Sunday" is NOT said with "estoy almorzando". 
• Instead, either the regular present or the "ir" plus "a" plus infinitive construction is used: "Almuerzo con una amiga el domingo"/"Voy a almorzar con una amiga el domingo".