Comparative Grammar 4.6. Present Progressive Tense in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages, we study the present progressive tense in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French. In Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, the present progressive tense, similar to its use in English, describes an event that continues to take place in the present, e.g., “I am speaking.”

Table of Contents

• Present Progressive Tense in Spanish
• Present Progressive Tense in Portuguese
• Present Progressive Tense in Italian
• Present Progressive Tense in French
• Irregular Gerunds
• Examples
• Level IV – Intermediate

Present Progressive Tense in Spanish

In Spanish, the present progressive tense is formed by adding the auxiliary verb “estar” to the present participle, also known as the gerund. The gerund is formed by attaching “-ando” to the stem of “-ar” ending verbs and “-iendo” to the stem of “-er” and “-ir” ending verbs.

Present Progressive Tense in Portuguese

In Portuguese, the present progressive tense is formed by adding the auxiliary verb “estar” to the gerund. The gerund is formed by attaching “-ando” to the stem of “-ar” ending verbs, “-endo” to the stem of “-er” ending verbs, and “-indo” to the stem of “-ir” ending verbs.

Present Progressive Tense in Italian

In Italian, the present progressive tense uses the auxiliary verb “stare” in the present indicative tense, followed by the gerund. The gerund is formed by attaching “-ando” to the stem of “-are” ending verbs and “-endo” to the stem of “-ere” and “-ire” ending verbs.

Unlike in English, it is possible to use the present simple tense to describe something happening continuously at the moment to convey the same meaning as the present progressive tense. For example:

Present Progressive Tense in French

In French, there is no equivalent to the present progressive tense in English. It is common to use the simple present tense in French to talk about actions that are happening right now, e.g., “Je parle” (I am talking), “Qu’est-ce que tu fais?” (What are you doing?), etc.

To emphasize the continuous state of an action, one could use the expression “être en train de” (to be in the process of). Here are some examples:

Irregular Gerunds

In Spanish, we have mentioned that a gerund can be easily constructed by attaching “-ando” to an “-ar” ending verb and “-iendo” to an “-er” or “-ir” ending verb. Nevertheless, there are a few irregular verbs that require some practice:

• The gerund of the verb “ir” (to go), which is a very common verb in Spanish, is “yendo,” e.g., “Yo estoy yendo al aeropuerto” (I am going to the airport). To say “I’m coming” in Spanish, you could use “Estoy yendo” or “Ya voy” because in Spanish we use the verb “ir” based on the point of reference of the speaker rather than that of the destination.
• In verbs ending in “-er” or “-ir,” if the stem (the remaining part of the verb after removing the “-er” or “-ir” ending) ends in a vowel, “-iendo” becomes “-yendo,” e.g., the gerund of “leer” (to read) is “leyendo,” the gerund of “atraer” (to attract) is “atrayendo,” the gerund of “destruir” (to destroy) is “destruyendo,” and that of “huir” (to run away) is “huyendo.”
• Many verbs ending in “-ir” that change stem in third-person forms of the present tense conjugation from “e” to “i” or from “o” to “u” maintain the same stem change in the gerund form, e.g., “decir” (to say) becomes “diciendo,” “pedir” (to ask for) becomes “pidiendo,” “dormir” (to sleep) becomes “durmiendo,” and “morir” (to die) becomes “muriendo.”
• In the verbs ending in “-er” or “-ir,” if the stem ends in “-ll” or “-ñ,” “-iendo” becomes “-endo.” There are few verbs in this group, most of which are not very common, e.g., “bullir” (to boil) becomes “bullendo,” “mullir” (to fluff) becomes “mullendo,” and “teñir” (to dye) becomes “tiñendo,” where the latter changes the first “e” to “i” as an exception to the rule.

In Italian, there are only a few irregular gerunds. The most common ones are: “bere” (to drink), “dare” (to give), “dire” (to say), “fare” (to do or to make), and “stare” (to stay or to be). Notice that, with these irregular verbs, the gerund is often formed from the stem of the first-person “io” form in the present indicative.

Examples

Here are some more examples in context:

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