Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Progressive or continuous tenses

Like their English counterparts the Spanish progressive tenses are used

primarily with action verbs to indicate, for example in the present, that an

action is taking place.

The present progressive

For actions in progress

The present progressive is normally used for actions that are taking place

at the present moment:

No puedo hacerlo ahora porque estoy vistiendo a los niños.

I can’t do it now because I’m dressing the children.

No podemos ir al parque, está lloviendo.

We can’t go to the park, it’s raining.

For recurrent events

To a lesser extent, the present progressive can be used in sentences that

describe recurrent actions:

Estás teniendo mucha suerte este mes.

You’re having a lot of luck this month.

Están comprando casas y remodelándolas.

They are buying up houses and doing them up.

11.3.1.2

11.3.1.1

11.3.1

(^1111) 11.3
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1011

1

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3 4 5 6 7 8 9

20111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

30111

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

40

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Progressive

or

continuous

tenses

139

Spanish progressive tenses contrasted with English usage

1 Unlike in English, Spanish progressive tenses are notavailable to

refer to future time: El sábado llega Angela(not: ×está

llegando×) ‘Angela is coming on Saturday’. This restriction

excludes the future progressive tense – see 11.3.4.

2 The Spanish progressive tenses are notused with the verb ir‘to

go’ (except to refer to recurrent events), llevar‘to wear’, or with

verbs stating physical posture: ¿Adónde va Luis?(not ×está

yendo×) ‘Where is Luis going?’, Ana llevaba puesta una camisa

muy bonita (not ×estaba llevando×) ‘Ana was wearing a very

nice shirt’,Estaban sentados en el sofá (not ×estaban sentando×)

‘They were sitting on the sofa’.