The Spanish present tense has a continuous (progressive) form to express an action which is ongoing in the present. It works in a similar way to the English present continuous:
Yo estoy hablando con mi madre.
I am talking with my mother.
Tú estás corriendo la maratón.
You are running the marathon.
Ella está aprendiendo a cocinar.
She is learning how to cook.
Nosotros estamos cantando.
We are singing.
Vosotros estáis mirando la puesta de sol.
You are looking at the sunset.
To express a continuing or ongoing present action in Spanish you will follow this pattern for most regular verbs:
First of all you will need estar in El Presente:
| yo | estoy |
| tú | estás |
| él / ella / Ud. | está |
| nosotros/nosotras |
estamos |
| vosotros /vosotras |
estáis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | están |
And then:
|
Estar in El Presente + |
-ando (-AR verbs) |
|
-iendo (-ER and -IR verbs) |
To form the gerund of the main action verb (which finishes in -ando/-iendo = the equivalent of the -ing form in English) you need to drop the ending of the infinitive and add the suffix -ando/-iendo):
hablar → habl- = hablando
correr → corr- = corriendo
For regular gerunds see:
For irregular gerunds see:
- List of Spanish Irregular Gerunds of the form -iendo
- List of Spanish Irregular Gerunds of the form -yendo
- Forming irregular gerunds (-ing form)
See also Forming El Imperfecto Progresivo with estar + gerund (imperfect progressive).
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Vosotros estáis mirando la puesta de sol.
You are looking at the sunset.
Ellos están viviendo en Caracas.
They are living in Caracas.
Tú estás corriendo la maratón.
You are running the marathon.
Ella está aprendiendo a cocinar.
She is learning how to cook.
Yo estoy hablando con mi madre.
I am talking with my mother.
Nosotros estamos cantando.
We are singing.
Q&A
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
18/01/18
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
2/12/17
Hi Alexander - a number of Spanish verbs have -yendo as the ending of the present participle (which, when it is used as a noun like this is known as a 'gerund').
Here's a list:
https://progress.lawlessspanish.com/revision/theme/707352
Hope that helps!
William
Kwiziq community member
12 August 2018
2 replies
Contestar a
The question
________ a vuestra pregunta.I am answering your question.HINT: Conjugate "contestar" in El Presente Continuo.
I understand the answer Estoy contestando buy why is the preposition "a" included in the original sentence. "Vuestra pregunta" is not a person. Estoy contestando a vuestra amiga
Silvia
Kwiziq language super star
12 August 2018
12/08/18
¡Hola William!
According to RAE (Real Academia Española), the verb "contestar" accepts both options with or without the preposition "a" even if it does not refer to a person. I hope this helps! Silvia.
William
Kwiziq community member
14 August 2018
14/08/18
I notice that asistir can also take the preposition a. Is there a list of verbs which take the preposition a in similar circumstances?
Mi jefe y yo ________ a muchas reuniones.My boss and I used to attend lots of meetings.HINT: Conjugate "asistir" in El Pretérito Imperfecto