The Spanish present progressive: estar + gerund, yendo and pidiendo
The Spanish present progressive is estar in the present + a gerund: Estoy leyendo means “I am reading.” Use it for an action that is in progress right now or around now. The gerund is the -ando / -iendo form, and only estar changes for each person.
Most gerunds are regular. The ones learners search for most often are not: ir → yendo, pedir → pidiendo and oír → oyendo. You will find them all below, followed by the cases where English uses “-ing” but Spanish prefers the simple present.
How to form the present progressive
Step 1: conjugate estar in the present tense. Step 2: add the gerund of the main verb.
| Person | Present progressive | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estoy hablando | I am speaking |
| tú | estás hablando | you are speaking |
| él / ella / usted | está hablando | he / she is, you are speaking |
| nosotros / nosotras | estamos hablando | we are speaking |
| vosotros / vosotras | estáis hablando | you all are speaking (Spain) |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | están hablando | they are, you all are speaking |
The gerund never changes for gender or number: Ella está hablando, Ellos están hablando. If estar itself still feels shaky, review it in our guide to ser and estar.
Regular gerunds: -ando and -iendo
- -ar verbs replace -ar with -ando: hablar → hablando, trabajar → trabajando.
- -er and -ir verbs replace the ending with -iendo: comer → comiendo, escribir → escribiendo.
So the answer to a classic textbook question is Amalia y Grisela están escribiendo una canción (Amalia and Grisela are writing a song). Forms like escribando or escribyendo do not exist.
Irregular gerunds you need to know
The RAE's Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (section 1) describes the gerunds that depart from the regular pattern. Most fall into two groups.
1. -iendo becomes -yendo after a vowel. When the stem ends in a vowel, the i turns into y:
| Infinitive → gerund | Example |
|---|---|
| leer → leyendo | Estoy leyendo un libro. (I'm reading a book.) |
| oír → oyendo | ¿Estás oyendo la música? (Can you hear the music?) |
| traer → trayendo | Están trayendo las sillas. (They are bringing the chairs.) |
| caer → cayendo | Está cayendo nieve. (Snow is falling.) |
| construir → construyendo | Estamos construyendo una casa. (We are building a house.) |
2. The stem vowel changes (e → i, o → u). This happens in verbs like these:
| Infinitive → gerund | Example |
|---|---|
| pedir → pidiendo | Estoy pidiendo la cuenta. (I'm asking for the bill.) |
| decir → diciendo | ¿Qué estás diciendo? (What are you saying?) |
| sentir → sintiendo | Estoy sintiendo mucho estrés estos días. (I'm feeling a lot of stress these days.) |
| venir → viniendo | Está viniendo mucha gente a la fiesta. (A lot of people are coming to the party.) |
| dormir → durmiendo | Los niños están durmiendo. (The children are sleeping.) |
| mentir → mintiendo | Me estás mintiendo. (You are lying to me.) |
Verbs built on these models follow them too: repetir → repitiendo, servir → sirviendo, morir → muriendo. Poder also changes: pudiendo.
The present progressive of ir: estoy yendo
Ir has the special gerund yendo. The DPD entry for ir notes that it is spelled yendo, not llendo or iendo.
| Person | Present progressive of ir |
|---|---|
| yo | estoy yendo |
| tú | estás yendo |
| él / ella / usted | está yendo |
| nosotros / nosotras | estamos yendo |
| vosotros / vosotras | estáis yendo |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | están yendo |
Estoy yendo a casa means “I'm on my way home.” In everyday conversation, plain voy is also very common in this situation: Ya voy (I'm coming / I'm on my way). For the other tenses of this verb, see our ir conjugation guide.
Pedir and oír in the present progressive
The pattern is the same: conjugate estar and keep one gerund for everyone.
- pedir: estoy pidiendo, estás pidiendo, está pidiendo, estamos pidiendo, estáis pidiendo, están pidiendo.
- oír: estoy oyendo, estás oyendo, está oyendo, estamos oyendo, estáis oyendo, están oyendo.
You can check the full tables on the pedir and oír conjugation pages.
When to use the present progressive
The RAE describes estar + gerundio as presenting an action in the course of its development (DPD, estar, section 4). In practice, use it for:
- An action happening at this moment: No puedo hablar, estoy conduciendo. (I can't talk, I'm driving.)
- A temporary activity around now: Este mes estoy trabajando desde casa. (This month I'm working from home.)
- A change in progress: Los precios están subiendo. (Prices are going up.)
When English -ing becomes a simple present in Spanish
Spanish uses the simple present more widely than English does. A progressive form is often possible but not needed, and in some cases it sounds unnatural.
1. Questions and answers about right now. ¿Qué haces? is a perfectly normal way to ask “What are you doing?” You can also say ¿Qué estás haciendo? to stress the moment.
2. Plans and arrangements. English “I'm leaving tomorrow” is usually Me voy mañana or Salgo mañana, not Estoy saliendo mañana. For future plans, use the simple present, ir a + infinitive (Voy a salir mañana) or the simple future. The DPD (estar, section 4) notes that in American Spanish, especially in conversation, estar + gerund is often used for the future, but the simple present and ir a are the safe choices everywhere.
3. Clothes and states. “She's wearing a red coat” is normally Lleva un abrigo rojo. “I'm living in Madrid” can be Vivo en Madrid; Estoy viviendo en Madrid suggests a temporary situation.
4. -ing used as a noun. A Spanish gerund cannot be the subject of a sentence. “Swimming is good for you” is Nadar es bueno para la salud, with the infinitive.
Where object and reflexive pronouns go
With estar + gerund, a pronoun can go before estar or attached to the gerund. Both are correct (DPD, pronombres personales átonos, 3d):
- Lo estoy leyendo. = Estoy leyéndolo. (I'm reading it.)
- Me estoy duchando. = Estoy duchándome. (I'm taking a shower.)
- Se lo estoy diciendo. = Estoy diciéndoselo. (I'm telling him / her.)
When you attach a pronoun, add a written accent to keep the stress on the same syllable: leyendo → leyéndolo, duchando → duchándome. Do not split them across both places (Lo estoy leyéndolo is wrong). For more on the pronouns themselves, see the direct and indirect object pronouns lesson and our article on Spanish reflexive verbs.
Two related structures: seguir and llevar + gerund
The gerund also appears after other verbs. The DPD lists seguir and llevar among them (gerundio, 6.1):
- seguir + gerund = to still be doing something: Sigue lloviendo. (It's still raining.)
- llevar + time + gerund = to have been doing something for a period: Llevo dos horas estudiando. (I've been studying for two hours.)
Four common mistakes
Using ser instead of estar. Soy trabajando is wrong; write Estoy trabajando.
Conjugating the gerund. Only estar changes: Estamos comiendo, not Estamos comiemos.
Forgetting the spelling change. Write leyendo, oyendo and yendo, never leiendo, oiendo or llendo.
Copying every English -ing. “I'm meeting Ana tonight” is Veo a Ana esta noche or Voy a ver a Ana esta noche. Treat the progressive as “in progress,” not as a translation of every -ing form.
Practice: eight present progressive exercises
For 1–5, complete the sentence with estar + gerund of the verb in brackets.
- Amalia y Grisela ___ una canción. (escribir)
- Yo ___ al supermercado ahora mismo. (ir)
- ¿Tú ___ la radio? (oír)
- Nosotros ___ más tiempo al profesor. (pedir)
- Los niños ___ en el sofá. (dormir)
- Rewrite with the pronoun attached to the gerund: Lo estoy leyendo.
- Correct this sentence: Ella es comiendo una manzana.
- Translate the plan naturally: “We're leaving tomorrow at eight.”
Show answersHide answers
- están escribiendo. Escribir is a regular -ir verb, so it takes -iendo.
- estoy yendo. Ir has the special gerund yendo. In conversation, Voy al supermercado is also natural.
- estás oyendo. After the vowel of the stem, -iendo becomes -yendo.
- estamos pidiendo. Pedir changes e → i in the gerund.
- están durmiendo. Dormir changes o → u in the gerund.
- Estoy leyéndolo. The accent keeps the stress on -yen-.
- Ella está comiendo una manzana. Progressive actions use estar, not ser.
- Salimos mañana a las ocho (or Nos vamos mañana a las ocho / Vamos a salir mañana a las ocho). Spanish usually uses the simple present or ir a for plans, not estar + gerund.
Now describe three things people around you are doing at this moment, using three different verbs from the tables above. Then continue with the Spanish gerund exercises on Espanido to practice gerunds and past participles in complete sentences. The gerunds and participles lesson explains how the gerund differs from the past participle.
