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11.5: Introduction to ¿Estás caminando ahora?

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    114075

    • Erica Brown, Alejandra Escudero, María Cristina Montoya, & Elizabeth Small
    • SUNY Oneonta via OER SUNY
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    When we talk about the present, people often refer to their present life using the present tense: “I work at the supermarket.” However, there is another verb tense for the continuous present, the present progressive tense, which is used to create a greater sense of continuity or ongoing action.

    In English, the present progressive tense (or present continuous tense—it’s the same thing) is formed by combining the verb “to be” with the present participle: for instance, “I am working.”* So:

    • Present tense: I work.
    • Present progressive/continuous tense: I am working.

    In Spanish, the present progressive tense functions similarly:

    • Present tense: Trabajo.
    • Present progressive tense: Estoy trabajando.

    Note that Spanish always uses estoy with the present progressive. We’ll discuss that more in the section that follows.

    *For more on the present progressive tense in English, see the entry on Advanced Verb Tenses in the Guide to Writing.

    Contributors and Attributions

    • Introduction to u00bfEstu00e1s caminando ahora?. Authored by: SUNY Oneonta with Lumen Learning. Provided by: SUNY Oneonta. License: CC BY: Attribution

    This page titled 11.5: Introduction to ¿Estás caminando ahora? is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Erica Brown, Alejandra Escudero, María Cristina Montoya, & Elizabeth Small (OER SUNY) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.