Imperfect ProgressiveImperfect Progressive When we talk about

something that was happening at a specific time in the past, often when something else happened we use a special form called the imperfect progressive

For example, in the picture on the left, the man was playing soccer. He was running and kicking the ball.

The formsThe forms The man was playing soccer.

He was running and kicking the ball.

Notice that we need two verbs to express this idea:

A form of BE: was was were

An -ing form of another verb: playing running kicking

… … and in Spanish??and in Spanish?? We do the same thing! A form of the verb ESTAR:

estaba estabas estaba estábamos estaban

And a verb form that ends in –ndo.

Por ejemplo…Por ejemplo… El hombre estaba

jugando al fútbol. Estaba corriendo y dando una patada a la pelota cuando nosotros llegamos al partido.

-NDO forms-NDO forms Jugar > jugando Dar > dando Correr > corriendo

Can you figure out how the different endings?

-NDO forms-NDO forms Exactly!

For –ar verbs, drop –ar and add –ando.

For –er & -ir verbs, add –iendo.

Let’s practice!Let’s practice! What are the –ndo

forms of these verbs? cantar volver escribir aprender hacer pensar ver

The envelope, please!The envelope, please! cantar: cantando volver: volviendo escribir: escribiendo aprender: aprendiendo hacer: haciendo pensar: pensando ver: viendo

There’s got to be a catch!There’s got to be a catch! Yes, there are

some irregulars. What is the –ndo form of ir?

That’s tricky!That’s tricky! ir > yendo Drop the –ir and

what do you have? Add –iendo for an

-ir verb. Iendo becomes

yendo.

Here are a couple more.Here are a couple more. leer > leyendo oir > oyendo traer > trayendo The –i- changes to

–y- between two vowels.

Wait! Stem-changing –IR verbs.Wait! Stem-changing –IR verbs.

If a verb is –ir and stem-changing, then the stem changes in the –ndo form.

venir (e > ie) viniendo

decir (e > i) diciendo

dormir (o > ue) durmiendo

Let’s practice!Let’s practice! Put the verbs into

the imperfect progressive form. Teodoro _____ (tomar) un té caliente y ______ (comer) unas galletas dulces cuando yo llegué.

¿Qué estaba haciendo?Qué estaba haciendo? Teodoro estaba

tomando un té caliente y estaba comiendo unas galletas dulces cuando yo llegué.

You can leave out the

second “estaba.”

Un poco más

In addition to the verb estar, several other verbs can be used to form the progressive tenses.•Seguir•Andar•Continuar•Venir

Ellos siguen estudiando

Yo andaba por la calle pensando.

El profesor continuaba enseñando.

Venían corriendo

They keep on studying

I was walking down the street thinking.

The teacher kept on (continued) teaching.

They came running.