A2 · The present tense
Present progressive: estar + -ando
For what is going on at this very instant.
At a glance
- Remember
- estar plus gerund means now, this instant — and nothing else.
- When
- Before the past
- The past
- Past linked to the present
- The present
- The future
- Completed in the future
The present — What holds at the moment, what is under way, or what is always the case.
- Form
- hablar → hablando-ar
- Signal words
- ahora
- en este momento
- ahora mismo
- mientras
- ¿qué estás haciendo?
- Trap
- Wrong:Ahora estoy teniendo un coche nuevo.Right:Ahora tengo un coche nuevo.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Spanish. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) tense marker auxiliary verb
| -ar | hablar → hablando |
| -er | comer → comiendo |
| -ir | vivir → viviendo |
| vowel before the ending | leer → leyendo, oír → oyendo |
| stem change | dormir → durmiendo, pedir → pidiendo |
| with a pronoun | Estoy lavándome. / Me estoy lavando. |
| estar + gerund: I am speaking | (yo) estoy hablando |
| you are speaking | (tú) estás hablando |
| he, she is speaking; you (formal) are speaking | (él, ella, usted) está hablando |
| we are speaking | (nosotros) estamos hablando |
| you (plural) are speaking | (vosotros) estáis hablando |
| they are speaking; you (formal) are speaking | (ellos, ellas, ustedes) están hablando |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
estar plus gerund is for what is going on at this moment.
Estoy leyendo tu carta.I am reading your letter.
The gerund never changes — not for person, not for gender.
Están trabajando.They are working.
The pronoun attaches at the end or stands before estar; attaching adds an accent.
Está duchándose.He is having a shower.
It is not normally used for the future.
Mañana voy al médico.Tomorrow I am going to the doctor.
Example sentences
¿Qué estás haciendo?What are you doing?
Los niños están durmiendo.The children are asleep.
Estamos esperando el autobús.We are waiting for the bus.
No me molestes, estoy trabajando.Do not disturb me, I am working.
6 more example sentences
Está lloviendo otra vez.It is raining again.
¿Me estás escuchando?Are you listening to me?
Seguimos buscando piso.We are still looking for a flat.
Estaba leyendo cuando llamaste.I was reading when you rang.
Llevamos un año viviendo aquí.We have been living here for a year.
Los precios están subiendo.Prices are going up.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The continuous gets put on verbs that name a state, because a «currently» is running in your head: Ahora estoy teniendo un coche nuevo. Owning, knowing and liking do not unfold like an action; they simply hold. So tener, saber, gustar and conocer stay in the simple present: Ahora tengo un coche nuevo — just as English says «I have a new car», not «I am having» one.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The gerund is made with -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for -er and -ir: hablando, comiendo, viviendo. Put estar in front and you have the continuous: Estoy comiendo.
It says: at this very moment. Not «usually», not «soon» — the plain present covers those. This is the point where English speakers go wrong most often, because the English continuous does far more work than the Spanish one.
A few verbs build the gerund irregularly: the -ir verbs whose stem also changes in the preterite (durmiendo, pidiendo, diciendo), and verbs with a vowel before the ending, where -iendo becomes -yendo (leyendo).
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The verbs on this page, in every form: estar · trabajar · hacer · ir · esperar · leer · dormir