In Spanish as in
English, past progressive is used to describe an action that was happening, going on, at some point in the past.
Yo estaba hablando I was talking Isabel
and Nandy estaban comiendo Isabel and Nandy were eating
HOW PAST
PROGRESSIVE IS FORMED:
The past progressive tense is formed by combining the verb ESTAR
in the imperfect tense with the present participle* of the main verb. *Present participle is like the -ing form of an English verb
To form the present participle of -AR verbs, drop the infinitive ending and add -ando: cantar → cantando
bailar → bailando
To form the present
participle of -ER and -IR verbs, drop the infinitive ending and add -iendo: beber → bebiendo comer
→ comiendo
Now, we are ready to form the past progressive:
Carmenza estaba cantando
en el baño Carmenza was singing in the bathroom
Los chicos estaban
bebiendo un refresco The boys were drinking a soft drink
El señor y la señora Rojas estaban cruzando
la calle Mr. and Mrs. Rojas were crossing the street
José y yo estábamos
escribiendo un libro José and I were writing a book
SPELL CHANGES IN THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE Some -er and -ir verbs
change -iendo to -yendo:
STEM CHANGES IN THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE OF SOME -IR VERBS
Changes from E → I
Decir
(to say) → diciendo Carlos estaba diciendo la verdad Servir (to
serve) → sirviendo El mesero
estaba sirviendo la comida Pedir (to ask
for) → pidiendo La maestra estaba pidiendo la tarea Repetir (to repeat) →
repitiendo Los estudiantes estaban repitiendo la oración Seguir (to follow) → siguiendo La Sra. Martinez estaba siguiendo a su hija Vestirse (to get dressed) → vistiendo La actriz se estaba vistiendo
Changes from O →
U
Dormir
(to sleep) → durmiendo Morir (to die) → muriendo
El bebé estaba durmiendo Las plantas estaban
muriendo
