In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages, we study the past and conditional progressive tenses in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French.
Table of Contents
Past Progressive Tense
The past progressive tense, similar to its use in English, describes an event that continued to take place in the past, e.g., “I was speaking.” It is formed as follows:
| SP | “estar” in imperfect tense | + gerund |
| PT | “estar” in imperfect tense | |
| IT | “stare” in imperfect tense | |
| FR | “être” in imperfect tense+ “en train de” + infinitive |
Examples
Here are some examples:
| SP | Mi mamá estaba cocinando cuando mi papá entró a la casa. | My mom was cooking when my dad entered the house. |
| PT | Minha mãe estava cozinhando quando meu pai entrou em casa. | |
| IT | Mia madre stava cucinando quando mio padre è entrato in casa. | |
| FR | Ma mère était en train de cuisiner lorsque mon père est entré dans la maison. | |
| SP | Estábamos nadando mientras estabas estudiando. | We were swimming while you were studying. |
| PT | Estávamos nadando enquanto você estudava. | |
| IT | Stavamo nuotando mentre tu studiavi. | |
| FR | Nous était en train de nager pendant que tu étudiais. |
Past Progressive vs Imperfect
Remember that the imperfect indicative tense can also correspond to the past progressive tense in English when describing continuous actions in the past. For example, “I was cooking” can be translated in two ways:
| SP | Cocinaba. | Estaba cocinando. |
| PT | Cozinhava. | Estava cozinhando |
| IT | Cucinavo. | Stavo cucinando. |
| FR | Je cuisinais. | J’étais en train de cuisine. |
The past progressive tense may be interpreted as giving more focus on the action than the imperfect. However, in most contexts, both are valid options to express continuous actions in the past.
Conditional Progressive Tense
The conditional progressive tense is used to describe an event that would be happening now had another event happened earlier. It is constructed from the conditional form of the auxiliary verb followed by the gerund.
| SP | “estar” in conditional tense | + gerund |
| PT | “estar” in conditionaltense | |
| IT | “stare” in conditionaltense | |
| FR | “être” in conditionaltense+ “en train de” + infinitive |
Examples
Here are some examples:
| SP | Estaría hablando con mi hermano si hubiera ido a su casa ayer. | I would be talking to my brother had I gone to his house. |
| PT | Estaria falando com meu irmão se tivesse ido à casa dele ontem. | |
| IT | Starei parlando con mio fratello se fossi andato a casa sua. | |
| FR | Je serais en train de parler à mon frère si j’étais allé chez lui. | |
| SP | No estaría comiendo mucho si estuviera a dieta. | I wouldn’t be eating much if I were on a diet. |
| PT | Eu não estaria comendo muito se estivesse de dieta. | |
| IT | Non starei mangiando molto se fossi a dieta. | |
| FR | Je ne serais pas en train de manger beaucoup si j’étais au régime. |
Next: The Verb “Acabar” in Spanish & Portuguese
Back to: Comparative Grammar Lessons
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