Forming Spanish Present Participles (-ing words) to use in the Present Progressive Tense

Regular VerbsTake the last two letters off the verb infinitive:

Hablar (to speak) = hablComer (to eat) = com

Escribir (to write) = escrib

For –ar verbs add –ando habl+ando = speaking

For –er and –ir verbs add -iendo com+iendo = eating, escrib+iendo = writing

When a verb stem ends in a vowel:

For –er and –ir verbs, once you have removed the last two letters, if the stem ends in a vowel add –yendo instead of –iendo.

Atraer = atra + yendo = atrayendo (attracting)

Caer = ca + yendo = cayendo (falling)

Construir = constru + yendo = construyendo (building)

Whenever an unstressed i appears between two vowels use the- yendo ending instead of the –iendo ending.

The present participle of IR (to go) is a special case

If you remove the –ir ending of IR you have nothing left, so just go ahead and add yendo.

The present participle of IR is yendo (going).

Ll and Ñ stemsWhen the stem of an –er or and –ir verb ends in ll or ñ,

-iendo changes to –endo.

This is because ll and ñ already have the sound of an i at the end.

gruñir (to growl) = gruñ + endo = gruñendo (growling)

Change to the stem!Some verbs also change in the stem when forming the present participle.

When an –ir verb has a stem change in the third person preterite (e>i or o>u) it will have the same change in its present participle form.

Decir (to say) = dijo (he said) = diciendo (saying)Hervir (to boil) = hirvió (it boiled) = herviendo (boiling)

Pedir (to ask for) = pido (he asked for) = pidiendo (asking for)Venir (to come) = vino (he came) = viniendo (coming)

Dormir (to sleep) = durmió (he slept) = durmiendo (sleeping)

Want to apply what you’ve learnt?These verbs all have stems that end in a vowel:

Creer – to believeLeer – to read

Traer – to bringContribuir – to contributeHuir – to flee, to run away

Influir – to influence

So what which ending will they use for their present participle?-iendo, -ando, -endo or -yendo?

You’ve got it! - YENDO

-Yendo EndingsCreer – to believe Creyendo = believing

Leer – to read Leyendo = reading

Traer – to bring Trayendo = bringing

Contribuir – to contribute Contribuyendo = contributing

Huir – to flee, to run away Huyendo = fleeing, running away

Influir – to influence Influyendo = influencing

What’s the present participle for IR (to go)?

Yup, you guessed it!YENDO = going

And what happens when the verb stem of an –er or –ir verb ends in ll or an ñ?

Because those letters contain the sound of an i at the end you can just add –endo instead of –iendo.

Engullir = to gulp, guzzle, devour, wolf downEngullendo = gulping, guzzling, devouring, wolfing down

And finally for those verbs that change in the stem for their third person preterite form?

Just remember to keep the stem change for the present participle as well!

Competir (to compete) = compitió (he competed) = compitiendo (competing)Conseguir (to get) = consiguió (he got) = consiguiendo (getting)

Morir (to die) = murió (he died) = muriendo (dying)

So that should pretty much keep you covered for forming any present participle for any Spanish verb!

So what are you waiting for?Off you go and speak some Spanish!