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The present continuous tense - Easy Learning Grammar Spanish

  • In Spanish, the present continuous tense is used to talk about something that is happening at this very moment.
  • The Spanish present continuous tense is formed from the present tense of estar and the gerund of the verb. The gerund is the form of the verb that ends in -ando (for -ar verbs) or -iendo (for -er and -ir verbs) and is the same as the -ing form of the verb in English (for example, walking, swimming).
Estoy trabajandoI’m working.
No estamos comiendo.We aren’t eating.
¿Estás escribiendo?Are you writing?
  • For more information on estar and the Gerund, see ser and estar and The gerund.
  • To form the gerund of an -ar verb, take off the -ar ending of the infinitive and add -ando:
InfinitiveMeaningStem (without -ar)GerundMeaning
hablarto speakhabl-hablandospeaking
trabajarto worktrabaj-trabajandoworking
  • To form the gerund of an -er or -ir verb, take off the -er or -ir ending of the infinitive and add -iendo:
InfinitiveMeaningStem (without -er/-ir)GerundMeaning
comerto eatcom-comiendoeating
escribirto writeescrib-escribiendowriting
TipWhen in doubt, use the present continuous to talk about things that are in the middle of happening right now. Use the present simple tense to talk about activities which are current but which may not be happening at this minute.
Lydia estudia medicina.Lydia’s studying medicine.
  • For more information on the Present simple tense, see The present simple tense.
Key points
  • Use the present continuous in Spanish for actions that are happening right now.
  • To form the present continuous tense in Spanish, take the present tense of estar and add the gerund of the main verb.
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Table of contents
  • Nouns
    • Using nouns
    • Gender
    • Forming plurals
  • Articles
    • Different types of article
    • The definite article: el, la, los and las
    • The indefinite article: un, una, unos and unas
    • The article lo
  • Adjectives
    • Using adjectives
    • Making adjectives agree
    • Word order with adjectives
    • Comparatives and superlatives of adjectives
    • Demonstrative adjectives
    • Interrogative adjectives
    • Adjectives used in exclamations
    • Possessive adjectives (1)
    • Possessive adjectives (2)
    • Indefinite adjectives
  • Pronouns
    • Personal pronouns: subject
    • Personal pronouns: direct object
    • Personal pronouns: indirect object
    • Order of object pronouns
    • Further information on object pronouns
    • Pronouns after prepositions
    • Possessive pronouns
    • Indefinite pronouns
    • Relative pronouns
    • Interrogative pronouns
    • Demonstrative pronouns
  • Verbs
    • Overview of verbs
    • The present tenses
    • The present simple tense
    • ser and estar
    • The present continuous tense
    • The imperative
    • Reflexive verbs
    • The future tense
    • The conditional
    • The preterite
    • The imperfect tense
    • The perfect tense
    • The pluperfect or past perfect tense
    • The passive
    • The gerund
    • Impersonal verbs
    • The subjunctive
    • The infinitive
    • Prepositions after verbs
    • Verbal Idioms
  • Negatives
  • Questions
    • Asking questions in Spanish
  • Adverbs
    • How adverbs are used
    • How adverbs are formed
    • Comparatives and superlatives of adverbs
    • Common adverbs
    • Position of adverbs
  • Prepositions
    • Using prepositions
    • a, de, en, para and por
    • Some other common prepositions
  • Conjunctions
    • y, o, pero, porque and si
    • Some other common conjunctions
    • Split conjunctions
  • Spelling
  • Stress
    • Which syllable to stress
    • The acute accent used to show meaning
  • Numbers
  • Time and date
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