Hola ¿Qué tal?

Today we will see how to describe what someone is doing currently in that moment or something someone does usually but for a temporary period of time using the Spanish Present Continuous (“El Presente Continuo”).

To construct this tense we use the Spanish verb Estar (“To be”) + Gerund (“Gerundio” in Spanish). A gerundio in English is a verb finishing in –ing. There are regular Spanish gerundios for verbs finishing in –ar, -er, and –ir and also some irregular Spanish gerundios.

Let´s look first at regular Spanish gerundios:

Gerundio (-AR): -ando:

• Hablando: Speaking
• Trabajando: Working
• Llamando: Calling
• Bailando: Dancing

Gerundio (-ER): -iendo:

• Comiendo: Eating
• Bebiendo: Drinking
• Rompiendo: Breaking
• Comprendiendo: Understanding

Gerundio (-IR): -iendo:

• Saliendo: Leaving
• Viviendo: Living

Now let’s see some irregular Spanish gerundios:

O-U:

• Poder – pudiendo: Being able to
• Dormir – durmiendo: Sleeping
• Morir – muriendo: Dying

E-I:

• Mentir – mintiendo: Lying
• Reir – riendo: Laughing
• Servir – sirviendo: Serving
• Decir – diciendo: Saying
• Preferir – prefiriendo: Preferring
• Seguir – siguiendo: Continuing

I-Y:

• Leer – leyendo: Reading
• Construir – construyendo: Building
• Traer – trayendo: Bringing
• Oir – oyendo: Hearing
• Ir – yendo: Going

Let´s see now how to make some sentences using the Spanish Present Continuous.

Remember you use the Spanish verb Estar (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) followed by a verb in the gerundio:

• ¿Qué estás haciendo?: What are you doing?
• Estoy comiendo: I am eating
• Estoy estudiando en España: I am studying in Spain
• Estamos viviendo en Madrid: We are living in Madrid

• ¿Qué tiempo está haciendo en tu país?: How is the weather in your country at the moment?
• Está lloviendo: It is raining
• Está nevando: It is snowing
• Está haciendo buen tiempo: The weather is good at the moment
• Está haciendo mal tiempo: The weather is bad at the moment

Now let´s practice the Spanish Present Continuous with Spanish reflexive verbs (when people do actions to themselves, such as Despertarse, Vestirse, Lavarse, and Acostarse):

• Me estoy duchando: I am showering
• Estoy duchándome: I am showering
• Te estás duchando: You are showering (friendly)
• Estás duchándote: You are showering (friendly)
• Se está duchando: You are showering (formal)
• Está duchándose: You are showering (formal)
• Se está duchando: He/She is showering
• Está duchándose: He/She is showering
• Nos estamos duchando: We are showering
• Estamos duchándonos: We are showering
• Os estáis duchando: You are showering (group/friendly)
• Estáis duchándoos: You are showering (group/friendly)
• Se están duchando: You are showering (group/formal)
• Están duchándose: You are showering (group/formal)
• Se están duchando: They are showering
• Están duchándose: They are showering

Finally, let’s look at how to describe two actions occurring at the same time with the Spanish Present Continuous:

• Me ducho cantando: I shower singing
• Venimos hablando por teléfono: We come talking on the phone
• Ana estudia escuchando música: Ana studies listening to music
• José y Pepa escriben una carta llorando: José and Pepa write a letter crying
• ¿Comes viendo la televisión?: Do you eat watching TV?
• Cocino escuchando la radio: I cook listening to the radio
• Carlos habla pensando en otra cosa: Carlos speaks thinking of something else

El Presente Continuo is a straightforward Spanish grammar tense to learn and use. Its use translates easily to English and it is structured in a very similar way. The key is to have lots of Spanish verbs up your sleeve and to be clear on the different verb endings according to whether the verb ends in -ar, -er or -ir.

Have a great day and enjoy your Spanish studies!

¡Que tengais un buen dia y que disfrutéis de vuestros estudios de español!

Hasta la próxima clase.

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