conjugation.progressive.estar-gerund
The progressive: estar + gerund
Estoy hablando, estaba comiendo: conjugated estar + gerund marks an action in progress at that moment. Narrower than the English -ing.
conjugationA2standardinternally_reviewedv1.0.0
Explanation
Conjugate estar in any tense and add the gerund: estoy trabajando (right now), estaba duchándome cuando llamaste (in progress in the past), he estado pensando (lately).
Spanish uses it only for actions genuinely in progress or recently ongoing. For the future or scheduled events, use the present or ir a — salgo mañana, voy a viajar — never *estoy saliendo mañana in the English way.
Pronouns go either before estar or attached to the gerund: me estoy duchando = estoy duchándome (accent added). Seguir, ir, andar, and llevar combine with the gerund for nuances of continuation and accumulation.
Examples
I'm making dinner.
Region: global
It was raining when we left.
Region: global
I've been waiting for an hour.
Region: global