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"
  • 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 in the Unidad 10 exam, 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!

Infinitive: jugar

  • Stem: jug
  • Gerund: jugando

Basic gerund formation in Spanish

 

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

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

Infinitive: tener

  • Stem: ten
  • Gerund: teniendo

Infinitive: salir

  • Stem: sal
  • Gerund: saliendo

Quick practice (not exactly exam format):

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

Son las ocho de la mañana y tú __________ (cerrar) las puertas de la sala de clase. 

  • Conjugate "estar" first:
  • estás
  • Now make the gerund of "cerrar":
  • Stem=cerr + ending=ando
  • Our gerund is cerrando
     
  • estás cerrando is correct

More not-exactly exam-format practice with basic gerunds:

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

Nosotros ________ (volver) a casa ahora mismo.

  • Conjugated "estar" first:
  • estamos
  • Now make the gerund of "volver":
  • Stem=volv + ending=iendo
  • Our gerund is volviendo
     
  • estamos volviendo is correct

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

  • The Contraseña video 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.

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

  • Contraseña also considers gerunds of this type to be "irregular", but that's not right. 
  • 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 won't worry about them here.

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.

Exam-format (truly!) practice

Overview

  • You need to be very careful when working in the first grammar section of this exam.
     
  • For every blank, you're going to have to decide whether to conjugate the verb in parentheses in the regular present tense or in the present-progressive tense!
     
  • Do not just put every verb in the present progressive because that's what we are learning in this chapter.
     
  • Instead, you are going to have to read the sentence carefully to determine whether this is (a) an habitual action or (b) an action actually in progress at the present moment.

Overview

  • Remember: we cannot use the present progressive for all actions.
     
  • The use of the present progressive in Spanish is highly restricted.
     
  • We can only use the present progressive to narrate actions actually in progress at the present moment.
     
  • This will be indicated in the exam in several ways:
  • Via time expressions that establish a "now" framework: "Son las ocho de la mañana y..."
  • Via adverbials that express "now": "ahora", "ahora mismo", "en este momento".

Overview

  • For all other actions (ones not in progress currently), we need to use the regular present tense in Spanish (even though what we hear in our head when/if thinking in English may often sound like the present progressive).
     
  • In Spanish, we use the regular present for:
  • habitual, routine actions (done every day, every weekend, etc.): "Lavo la ropa los viernes por la noche."
     
  • actions that occur over time but are not happening right this very now (done over the course of a semester, every day this month, etc.): "Enseño cinco clases este semestre".
     
  • actions in the proximate future (tonight, tomorrow, etc.): "Voy al cine esta tarde".

Overview

  • The need to use the regular present will be indicated in the exam chiefly via adverbials that express either not-now-ness or routine, standard operating procedure or typical nature of activities, such as:
     
  • "todos los días"
  • "los sábados"
  • "generalmente"
  • "en un día típico"
  • "normalmente"
  • "mañana por la tarde"
  • "esta noche"
     
  • You really need to pay close attention to this.

True exam-format practice

Remember--before you do anything, decide whether you should use the regular present tense or the present-progressive tense when you conjugate.

All responses in this section do require a conjugated verb--do NOT just copy the infinitives over and over. You will earn exactly 0 credit for doing that.

  • Example 1:
  • Todos los días, mis amigos y yo __________ (hacer) muchas cosas.
  • Job 1: decide if the verb should conjugate in the regular present tense or the present progressive. Which is it here, and why?
  • Answer 1: it's the regular present tense that must be used.
  • Why? This is an habitual action.
  • How do we know? The adverbial "todos los días"
  • Job 2: conjugate the verb "hacer" in the present tense for the subject "mis amigos y yo" (ie, "nosotros"). What is that form?
  • Answer 2: it's "hacemos". That's what you write in the blank.

True exam-format practice

Remember--before you do anything, decide whether you should use the regular present tense or the present-progressive tense when you conjugate.

All responses in this section do require a conjugated verb--do NOT just copy the infinitives over and over. You will earn exactly 0 credit for doing that.

  • Example 2:
  • Ana no puede ir al cine ahora mismo porque __________ (dormir).
  • Job 1: decide if the verb should conjugate in the regular present tense or the present progressive. Which is it here, and why?
  • Answer 1: it's the present progressive that must be used.
     
  • Why? This is an action happening right now.
  • How do we know? The adverbial "ahora mismo"

True exam-format practice

  • Example 2:
  • Ana no puede ir al cine ahora mismo porque __________ (dormir).
  • Job 2: conjugate the verb "dormir" in the present progressive tense for the subject "Ana".
  • Step 1: get the correct present-tense conjugation of the verb "estar" for this subject. What is that?
  • Step 1 answer: it's "está". This must be the first word we write.
  • Step 2: form the gerund of the verb "dormir". What is that?
  • Step 2 answer: First, remember that "dormir" is an *-IR verb that stem-changes*. That's crucial. Then follow these steps:
  • Derive the stem: dorm
  • Change the stem "o" to a "U": durm
  • Add the gerund ending for -ER/-IR verbs: durmiendo
     
  • The complete, correct response is "está durmiendo".