Present Progressive Tense

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Introduction

The Present Progressive Tense is the "ing" of English - I am eating, she is playing, We are walking, etc. Although it's a completely different tense, there's a very simple formula to conjugating the present progressive. It is as follows:

Estar + present participle

The form of estar needs little explanation: You simply conjugate it based on the subject. For example, if I wanted to say "I am eating", I would choose "estoy" since I is the subject, and then choose whatever the present participle of eating is, which, let's actually figure out now.

Creating the Present Participle

Regular Verbs

The process is simple for creating the present participle of regular verbs:

      Process:
    • Remove the ending
    • If it's an AR verb, add "ando"; if ER/IR, add "iendo".

      Examples:
    • Tener - Teniendo
    • Comprar - Comprando
    • Escribir - Escribiendo

Irregular Verbs

There are two different cases of irregular verbs for the present progressive: double vowel verbs and stem-changers.

Double Vowel Verbs

This, too, is a very simple process. If the last letter of the stem (in other words, the letter right before the ending) is a vowel, you simply follow this process to create the present participle:

    The Process:
  1. Remove the ending
  2. Add "yendo"
    Examples:
  • Leer - Leyendo
  • Creer - Creyendo
  • Incluir - Incluyendo
Stem Changing IR Verbs

IR Verbs that stem change from E:IE or from E:I only stem change from E:I for the present participle. Similarly, IR verbs that stem change from O:UE only stem change to O:U.

    The Process:
  1. Stem change the second-to-last-vowel accordingly
  2. Replace the ending with "iendo"
    Examples:
  • Dormir - Durmiendo
  • Servir - Sirviendo
  • Repetir - Repitiendo

Any weird verbs?
Yes! They are three worth noting:
Ir = yendo
Seguir = Siguiendo
Poder = Pudiendo (only ER verb)

Practice! No punctuation.