![]() ![]() ) Note: Do not miss the cool song at the end of the page we’ve linked you to here. ![]() Mamá estaba durmiendo. (Mum was sleeping.)Įstaba lloviendo. ( It was raining. Yo estaba estudiando polaco. (I was studying Polish.) María estaba comiendo manzanas. (María was eating apples.) Have a look at the following examples and pay attention to the similarities between both languages: ![]() Notice I said “what was happening,” meaning you use this tense for the same purpose you use it in English: talking about ongoing past actions. Use the Spanish past progressive tense when you want to talk about what was happening in the past. It is very easy to form, and it is even easier to use because of its similarities with English. I have already mentioned a couple of times in this post that the Spanish progressive tense is one of the easiest tenses in Spanish. You can also listen hear more about it in this podcast from News in Slow Spanish.īut when are we supposed to use this tense in Spanish? When to Use the Spanish Past Progressive Tense To describe something that was happening As you watch and listen to these tenses in action, you will become more accustomed to how the Spanish past progressive should sound. To better understand this tense, you can hear native speakers use it in authentic Spanish videos with interactive subtitles on the FluentU program. Recuerdo que el teléfono estaba sonando.(I remember the phone was ringing.)Īyer a las dos estábamos almorzando.(We were having lunch yesterday a two p.m.)Įasy! As you can see, the similarities between the English and the Spanish past progressive tenses are striking. Mi hermana estaba cocinando mientras yo estaba planchando. (My sister was cooking while I was ironing.)Įl perro estaba ladrando cuando llegué. (The dog was barking when I arrived.) Once we have those two things together we can start having fun! Have a look at some examples: In order to form the Spanish past progressive, you are going to need the imperfect tense of estar (see point one of this section) and the gerundio of the main verb (see point two of this section). Now that we know how to get the different components of the past progressive, the only thing we have left to do is put them together and make sentences. Here are just a few of the most common irregulars: You can find a long list of irregular gerundios at Learn a Language. Resistir (to resist) → resist iendo (resisting)Īs for irregular verbs, it would be outside the scope of this post to include all the possible irregularities and infinitives. Next, we need a present participle, also known as the Spanish gerundio.ĭepending on the ending of the infinitive, regular verbs can fall into one of two groups:Įstudiar (to learn) → estudi ando (learning) The verb estar is regular in the imperfect tense, so this should not be difficult to learn. To form the past progressive, what we need is the imperfect tense of the same verb: When forming the present progressive tense, the first thing we needed was the present tense of the verb estar. If you have not, I recommend you start from the beginning by studying the Spanish present progressive. If you are learning the past progressive tense, I assume you have already studied the present form of the tense. Ready? Let’s learn! How to Form the Spanish Past Progressive Tense 1. The following sections will teach you how to form it, step by step. The past progressive tense is one of those Spanish tenses that takes no time to learn but is super useful. It may look complicated at first, but the Spanish past progressive is as friendly and easy as the English past progressive, and this post will prove it to you. You might be able to spot it even if you are a beginning Spanish learner and do not recognize the verb endings yet. She was looking at Sam → Estaba mirando a Samĭo you notice the pattern in the Spanish translations? What were you doing… → ¿Qué estabas haciendo…? Now let’s translate the fragments into Spanish: All of them are written in the past progressive tense.Īfter all, that is the tense we use in English in order to refer to actions that were taking place at some point in the past. If you read the opening conversation again, you will notice there are five bold fragments in it. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. The Difference Between the Imperfect and the Past Progressive.To speak of an action that was interrupted.To describe something that was happening.When to Use the Spanish Past Progressive Tense.How to Form the Spanish Past Progressive Tense.Read on, dear readers, to harness the power of the Spanish past progressive! Today, we will be learning the Spanish past progressive. How and When to Use the Past Progressive in Spanish ![]()
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