Intro2Spanish.com: Spanish Verb Conjugation: Indicative: Present Progressive Tense

Progressive tenses use a form of "to be" along with the present participle of the verb or action stated. The participle form in English is the "---ing" form of a verb.

An English Verb Conjugated in the Present Progressive Tense
I am driving	we are driving
you are driving	y'all are driving
he, she, it is driving	they are driving

Note that the only change in these tenses is what you do with the verb to be. The same thing will be true in Spanish.

In Spanish, you use the verb estar (to be) along with the -ando or -iendo form of a verb.

AR verbs:	-*ando*
ER & IR verbs:	-iendo

For - AR verbs:

For putting an -ar verb into the present progressive, study the following chart where estar is conjugated in the present. You can substitute any -ar verb into the ---- (dashes) and attach the -ando ending to achieve the results in the right column.

present tense forms ofESTAR+present participleof the verb----- AR
	yo	estoy	----- ando	I am ----- ing
	tú	estás	----- ando	you are ----- ing
	él	está	----- ando	he is ----- ing
	ella	está	----- ando	she is ----- ing
	Usted	está	----- ando	you are ----- ing
	nosotros	estamos	----- ando	we are ----- ing
	nosotras	estamos	----- ando	we(ladies)are ----- ing
	vosotros	estáis	----- ando	y'all are ----- ing
	vosotras	estáis	----- ando	y'all (ladies) are ----- ing
	ellos	están	----- ando	they are ----- ing
	ellas	están	----- ando	they(ladies)are ----- ing
	ustedes	están	----- ando	y'all are ----- ing
This is what is going on in one's life, ... as one sees it [actually in progress] ...

For - ER verbs:

For putting ER verbs into the present progressive, study the following chart where estar is conjugated in the present. You can substitute any -er verb into the ---- (dashes) and attach the -iendo ending to achieve the results in the right column.

present tense forms ofESTAR+present participleof the verb----- ER
	yo	estoy	----- iendo	I am ----- ing
	tú	estás	----- iendo	you are ----- ing
	él	está	----- iendo	he is ----- ing
	ella	está	----- iendo	she is ----- ing
	Usted	está	----- iendo	you are ----- ing
	nosotros	estamos	----- iendo	we are ----- ing
	nosotras	estamos	----- iendo	we(ladies)are ----- ing
	vosotros	estáis	----- iendo	y'all are ----- ing
	vosotras	estáis	----- iendo	y'all (ladies) are ----- ing
	ellos	están	----- iendo	they are ----- ing
	ellas	están	----- iendo	they(ladies)are ----- ing
	ustedes	están	----- iendo	y'all are ----- ing
This is what is going on in one's life, ... as one sees it [actually in progress] ...

For - IR verbs:

For putting IR verbs into the present progressive, study the following chart where estar is conjugated in the present. You can substitute any -ir verb into the ---- (dashes) and attach the -iendo ending to achieve the results in the right column.

present tense forms ofESTAR+present participleof the verb----- IR
	yo	estoy	----- iendo	I am ----- ing
	tú	estás	----- iendo	you are ----- ing
	él	está	----- iendo	he is ----- ing
	ella	está	----- iendo	she is ----- ing
	Usted	está	----- iendo	you are ----- ing
	nosotros	estamos	----- iendo	we are ----- ing
	nosotras	estamos	----- iendo	we(ladies)are ----- ing
	vosotros	estáis	----- iendo	y'all are ----- ing
	vosotras	estáis	----- iendo	y'all (ladies) are ----- ing
	ellos	están	----- iendo	they are ----- ing
	ellas	están	----- iendo	they(ladies)are ----- ing
	ustedes	están	----- iendo	y'all are ----- ing
This is what is going on in one's life, ... as one sees it [actually in progress] ...