2. 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.”
3. Imperfect Progressive and
Preterite
• It uses the present tense of estar +
the present participle.
• No puedo ir al cine. Estoy
estudiando para el examen.
4. 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.
5. Imperfect Progressive and
Preterite
• Estaba esquiando cuando me caí y
me torcí la rodilla.
• I was skiing when I fell and sprained
my knee.
6. Imperfect Progressive and
Preterite
• The present and imperfect progressive
tenses use the same irregular present
participles.
7. Imperfect Progressive and
Preterite
• Remember, to form the present
participle of -ir stem-changing verbs, e
changes to i and o changes to u:
10. I>Y
• For the following -er verbs, the I of -iendo
changes to y:
• creer?
• creyendo • traer?
• leer? • trayendo
• leyendo
11. Imperfect Progressive and
Preterite
• When you use pronouns with the
imperfect progressive, you can put
them before estar or attach them to the
participle.
12. Imperfect Progressive and
Preterite
• ¿Qué estaba haciendo cuando te cortaste?
• Estaba afeitándome.
• Or
• Me estaba afeitando.
13. 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.
