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¡Hola! Ready to talk about what is happening right this second? Let's learn how to build action sentences in Spanish!
The present progressive tense tells what someone is doing right now. In English, we say 'I am eating' or 'they are running'. In Spanish, we build this using two parts: the verb 'estar' (to be) and a main action verb.
Step one is choosing the right form of 'estar' (to be) to match your subject. For example, use 'estoy' (I am), 'estás' (you are), or 'está' (he/she is). This helper verb acts like an anchor for your sentence.
Step two is changing the action verb into a 'gerundio' (gerund). For '-ar' verbs, drop the ending and add '-ando' (like 'hablando' - speaking). For '-er' and '-ir' verbs, add '-iendo' (like 'comiendo' - eating).
Translate the sentence 'They are writing' into Spanish using the present progressive. The verb for 'to write' is 'escribir'.
- Identify the subject: 'They' in Spanish is 'ellos' (EH-yohs).
- Find the correct form of the helper verb 'estar' for 'ellos'. The correct match is 'están' (they are) — ehs-TAHN.
- Take the action verb 'escribir' (to write) and drop its '-ir' ending to get the stem 'escrib-'.
- Since 'escribir' is an '-ir' verb, add the ending '-iendo' to the stem to get 'escribiendo' (writing) — ehs-kree-BYEHN-doh.
- Put both parts together to form the complete active sentence: 'Ellos están escribiendo'.
