Spanish Past Progressive
In the Present Progressive lesson of the Grammer section, you learned about how to say, "I am walking," "I am singing," or "I am eating" in Spanish. What you didn't know was that there is a past progressive tense that is EXACTLY THE SAME as the present progressive, except that the verb estar is in the imperfect tense.
Spanish Past Progressive Tense
First of all, a quick review. If you want to say that you are doing something, you will use a conjugated form of estar followed by the present participle of the verb (formed by adding –ando or -iendo).
I am walking
= Estoy caminando
I am singing
= Estoy cantando
I am eating
= Estoy comiendo
Now, let's say that you want to talk about what you were doing in the past. Use the exact same format that you learned … except substitute an imperfect form of the verb estar for the present tense.
I was walking
= Estaba caminando
I was singing
= Estaba cantando
I was eating
= Estaba comiendo
Why use the imperfect rather than the preterite? Because an action that is progressive is also continuous, and continuous actions require the imperfect.
Por ejemplo:
In the next section we'll talk about Verbs that Say One Thing and Mean It
Try Rocket Spanish for Free
Sign up for your free, no-obligation Lifetime Trial and see how well Rocket Spanish works for you!
YES! I want to try Rocket Spanish for free!
This is a private and fully protected mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time. You can review our Privacy Policy here
That's right, sign up now and you'll be able to see just how well my Rocket Spanish Premium course works for you!
Your free trial gives you online access to a selection of Rocket Spanish Premium interactive audio lessons and Spanish language and culture lessons.
You'll be amazed at how much Spanish you know after just a few days!
Mauricio Evlampieff
Rocket Spanish
Like Our Site? Follow Us!
