The past and conditional progressive tenses in Spanish are similar to their uses in their counterparts in English.
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., “Yo estaba hablando” (I was speaking). It is formed by adding the imperfect tense of the auxiliary verb “estar” to the present participle, also known as the gerund.
| subject pronoun + imperfect tense of the verb “estar” + gerund |
| -ar ending hablar | -er ending comer | -ir ending vivir | ||
| yo | estaba | hablando | comiendo | viviendo |
| tú | estabas | |||
| él/ella/usted | estaba | |||
| nosotros/-as | estábamos | |||
| vosotros/-as | estabais | |||
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estaban |
For example:
| Mi mamá estaba cocinando cuando mi papá entró a la casa. | My mom was cooking when my dad entered the house. |
| Estábamos nadando mientras estabas estudiando. | We were swimming while you were studying. |
Conditional Progressive Tense
On the other hand, the conditional progressive tense describes an event that would be happening now had another event happened earlier, e.g., “Yo estaría jugando si no estuviera lesionado” (I would be playing if I weren’t injured). It is formed by adding the conditional form of the auxiliary verb “estar” to the gerund.
| subject pronoun + conditional form of the verb “estar” + gerund |
| -ar ending hablar | -er ending comer | -ir ending vivir | ||
| yo | estaría | hablando | comiendo | viviendo |
| tú | estarías | |||
| él/ella/usted | estaría | |||
| nosotros/-as | estaríamos | |||
| vosotros/-as | estaríais | |||
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | estarían |
For example:
| 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 yesterday. |
| No estaría comiendo mucho si estuviera a dieta. | I wouldn’t be eating much if I were on a diet. |
Quiz: Past & Progressive Tenses in Spanish
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