Estar + gerundio
The present tense with ser + gerundio is a progressive form. It is used to express what one is doing at a particular moment.
The two use cases are:
- to highlight that an action is happening at one specific moment (can be at the moment of speaking, but does not have to be)
Example: Estoy viendo mi serie favorita. (I am watching my favorite series)
- to point out that an action is constantly repeated
Example: Mi padre siempre me está contando historias de su juventud. (My father is always telling me stories from his youth.)
To form the estar + gerundio, the following structure is applied:
| Subject | estar | Gerundio |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estoy |
hablando aprendiendo viviendo |
| tú | estás | |
| él/ella/usted | está | |
| nosotros/-as | estamos | |
| vosotros/-as | estáis | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | están |
Thus, for the formation of the gerundio, the infinitive ending is replaced by the following endings:
| Ending | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | Gerundio | Infinitive | Gerundio |
| -ar | -ando | hablar | hablando |
| -er | -iendo | aprender | aprendiendo |
| -ir | -iendo | vivir | viviendo |
For verbs that change their stem vowel in the singular and third person plural (e -> i/ie, o -> ue), the vowel also changes in the gerundio.
| Infinitive | Gerundio |
|---|---|
| decir | diciendo |
| divertir | divirtiendo |
| dormir | durmiendo |
| morir | muriendo |
| pedir | pidiendo |
| poder | pudiendo |
| preferir | prefiriendo |
| servir | sirviendo |
For verbs where the stem ends in a vowel, the ending -yendo is used instead of -iendo.
Example:
ir – yendo
leer – leyendo
oír – oyendo
traer – trayendo
