【英文版西语语法】Imperfect progressive

 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.