1. Imperfect Progressive and Preterite
Realidades 2

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:

8. E > I decir? diciendo pedir? pidiendo repetir? repitiendo seguir?
siguiendo
servir?
sirviendo
vestir?
vistiendo

9. O > U
dormir?
durmiendo

10. I > Y For the following -er verbs, the I of -iendo changes to y:
creer?
creyendo
leer?
leyendo
traer?
trayendo

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.

14. Imperfect Progressive and Preterite
Ella estaba corriendo cuando se lastimó el tobillo.