Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• Do you remember the

present progressive?

• It’s used when a person wants

to say that an action is

happening “right now.”

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• It uses the present tense of

estar + the present participle.

• No puedo ir al cine. Estoy

estudiando para el examen.

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• To describe something that was

taking place over a period of time in

the past, use the imperfect

progressive, which uses the imperfect

tense of estar + the present

participle.

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• Estaba esquiando cuando

me caí y me torcí la rodilla.

• I was skiing when I fell and

sprained my knee.

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• The present and imperfect

progressive tenses use the

same irregular present

participles.

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• Remember, to form the

present participle of -ir stem-

changing verbs, e changes to i

and o changes to u:

E > I

decir?

diciendo

pedir?

pidiendo

repetir?

repitiendo

seguir?siguiendoservir?sirviendovestir?vistiendo

O > U

dormir?

durmiendo

I > Y

• For the following -er verbs, the I of -

iendo changes to y:

• creer?

• creyendo

• leer?

• leyendo

•traer?•trayendo

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• When you use pronouns with

the imperfect progressive, you

can put them before estar or

attach them to the participle.

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• ¿Qué estaba haciendo cuando te

cortaste?

• Estaba afeitándome.

• Or

• Me estaba afeitando.

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• Note that the imperfect

progressive describes what was

taking place while the preterite

tells a specific occurance in the

past or interrupts the action.

Imperfect Progressive and Preterite

• Ella estaba corriendo

cuando se lastimó el tobillo.