Spanish present progressive: estar + gerund (-ando / -iendo)

The Spanish present progressive says that something is happening right now. You build it with two pieces: the verb estar conjugated for the subject, plus the gerund of the main verb. To make the gerund, drop the infinitive ending and add -ando to -ar verbs and -iendo to -er and -ir verbs. So hablar → hablando, comer → comiendo, vivir → viviendo, and estoy hablando means “I am speaking”.

The important twist for English speakers is that Spanish uses this form far less than English does. It is reserved for actions in progress at this moment, not for routines or future plans. The sections below cover how to conjugate estar, how to build regular and irregular gerunds, and exactly when to reach for this tense instead of the simple present.

Estar plus the gerund

Estar carries the subject and the tense; the gerund never changes for person. Here is estar in the present:

¿Qué estás haciendo? — Estoy estudiando español.
What are you doing? — I’m studying Spanish.

Building the gerund

For most verbs the gerund is regular: -ar → -ando, -er/-ir → -iendo. Two groups change:

• When an -er/-ir stem ends in a vowel, the ending becomes -yendo to avoid three vowels in a row: leer → leyendo (reading), oír → oyendo (hearing), construir → construyendo (building).
• Stem-changing -ir verbs shift the stem vowel in the gerund: pedir → pidiendo (asking), dormir → durmiendo (sleeping), decir → diciendo (saying).

Los niños están durmiendo y yo estoy leyendo.
The children are sleeping and I am reading.

When to use it — and when not

Use the progressive only to stress that an action is unfolding at the moment of speaking. For habits, general facts and scheduled events, Spanish uses the simple present instead, even where English would say “I am …”.

The clearest trap is the future. English happily says “I am leaving tomorrow”, but Spanish does not use the progressive for future plans — it uses the simple present or ir a + infinitive.

Estoy saliendo mañana. → Salgo mañana. / Voy a salir mañana.
I’m leaving tomorrow.

Likewise, for something you do regularly, use the simple present.

Trabajo en un banco. (habit) vs. Estoy trabajando ahora. (right now)
I work at a bank. vs. I’m working right now.

Keep going: seguir and continuar + gerund

The gerund is not tied to estar. Two common verbs, seguir and continuar (to keep / to continue), also take a gerund to say an action goes on: sigo estudiando means “I keep studying / I’m still studying”, and continúan trabajando is “they keep working”. It is the very same gerund you built with estar.

Object and reflexive pronouns can either sit before the conjugated verb or attach to the end of the gerund — both are correct. Lo estoy haciendo and estoy haciéndolo both mean “I’m doing it”; note that attaching the pronoun adds a written accent to keep the original stress (haciéndolo).

Sigo aprendiendo español y lo estoy disfrutando.
I keep learning Spanish and I’m enjoying it.

Because the progressive is about the present instant, it pairs naturally with time markers like ahora (now), ahora mismo (right now) and en este momento (at this moment). If a sentence has one of those, the progressive is usually the right choice; if it describes a routine or a general fact, switch back to the simple present.

Ahora mismo estoy cocinando, pero normalmente cocina mi padre.
Right now I’m cooking, but usually my father cooks.

One more limit: some English “-ing” uses are never progressive in Spanish. After a preposition, Spanish uses the infinitive, not the gerund, so “before eating” is antes de comer and “without speaking” is sin hablar. The gerund is strictly for an action in progress, not for naming an activity the way English “-ing” often does.

Common mistakes

Using the progressive for the future

Spanish keeps this tense for the present moment only; future intentions use ir a + infinitive or the simple present.

Estamos viajando la próxima semana. → Vamos a viajar la próxima semana.
We are traveling next week.

Wrong gerund ending on -er/-ir verbs

-er and -ir verbs take -iendo, not -ando; only -ar verbs take -ando.

Está comando. → Está comiendo.
He/she is eating.

Forgetting to conjugate estar

The gerund alone is not a full verb — you always need a conjugated form of estar in front of it.

Yo hablando por teléfono. → Estoy hablando por teléfono.
I’m talking on the phone.

Once you can hear the difference between “I work” and “I’m working right now”, you will use this tense sparingly and correctly, the way Spanish does. In Fluera you practice estar + gerund inside live moments like estoy estudiando and están durmiendo, so it stays tied to the present instant. Describe what’s happening around you when you practice Spanish.

Practice