Present Progressive in Spanish: A Simple (But Complete) Guide

The Spanish language has 16 verb tenses and the present progressive tense is not one of them. Wait! What? “But I have I used the present progressive in Spanish before”, you may say. Let me explain. What in English is called “present progressive” in Spanish is called “perífrasis verbal” (verb phrase). This particular verb phrase is made up of the verb “estar” and a verb that ends in “ando” or “iendo”. The good news is that this “verb phrase” works very similarly to the present progressive you are familiar with.In this lesson, we will show you how to form this structure, which, for the purposes of this article, we will call present progressive in Spanish. We will also show you when and how to use this form. Ready? Let’s dive into it.Spanish Present Progressive Structure To form the present progressive or continuous tense in Spanish, you only need two things, the auxiliary verb “estar” and a present participle. In Spanish, present participles are verbs that end in -ando or -iendo. This te...