Forming the Imperfect Progressive
The imperfect progressive tense is formed with the imperfect indicative of the verb
estar
and the present participle of the content verb, which tells you what was happening. This is known as a perífrasis
verbal
, or verbal periphrasis.
Imperfect Progressive Formula
imperfect indicative of estar + present participle
Imperfect Progressive Forms
Here's an example of the verb
hablar
(to speak) in the imperfect progressive.
Subject Spanish English
yo
Estaba hablando.
I was speaking.
tú
Estabas hablando.
You were speaking.
él, ella, usted
Estaba hablando.
He/She was speaking./You were speaking.
nosotros
Estábamos hablando.
We were speaking.
vosotros
Estabais hablando.
You (all) were speaking.
ellos, ellas, ustedes
Estaban hablando.
They were speaking./You were speaking.
Check out these examples of the imperfect progressive.
Estaba hablando con mi madre cuando llamaste.
I was talking to my mother when you called.
Estaba trabajando a las ocho.
He was working at eight o’clock.
Nos vio cuando estábamos caminando en el parque.
He saw us when we were walking in the park.
In the first example below, the action that was interrupted (estaba hablando) is in the imperfect progressive, while the action that interrupted is in the preterite (llamaste).
More Progressive Tenses
By changing the tense of estar, you can form different progressive tenses, such as the present progressive, the preterite progressive, the imperfect progressive, and the future progressive, etc. The present participle itself doesn't change.
