​El presente progresivo: the present progressive

​Even though the present tense has an "ing" translation,

example: como = I am eating or I eat, there is another way to say someone is doing something, that way is the present progressive.

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​Forming the present progressive

​For the "is" part of the present progressive, the verb "estar" (to be) is used in the present tense.

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​ estar

​estoy estamos

​estás estáis

​está están

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​For the "ing" part, the infinitive is removed from the verb, and an ending is attached.

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​For -ar verbs, ando is added ex. caminando

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For -er/-ir verbs, iendo is added ex. corriendo​

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​Can it really be that simple???? No, you're right! There are a couple of "special cases" to learn.

​Think back to the -er/-ir preterite. Ugh! The 2 main difficulties were the "y" changers and the "stem" changers. Well..... these two show up in the present progressive as well.

​Now for the "stem" changers! Remember that there are only 2 kinds of stem changers o;u and e;i and that ONLY -ir verbs stem change. Same here.

​dormir o;u morir o;u pedir e;i preferir e;i servir e;i mentir e;i So the "ing" for these verbs will always stem change

ex; I am sleeping = estoy durmiendo

​The "ing" ando and iendo and yendo can also be used with other verbs like seguir (to continued doing)

​Julián keeps looking at Maylin. Julián sigue mirando a Maylin.

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​As you can see, seguir is an e;i stem-changer in the present tense