Nook’s Notes: CE Spanish III — The Past Progressive Tenses (4/7)

I like reading, but reading non-fiction can be a struggle for me to retain. So, I will be treating my reading as if it were classwork by taking and sharing notes. Want to join me?

Pale yellow background with text on the left reading “SPANISH 101” in blue, “PROGRESSIVE TENSE” in yellow, and “USES, ENDINGS, AND EXAMPLES” in pink. On the upper right is a cartoon image of a woman sleeping and on the lower right is another cartoon image of a woman working on a laptop.

A year after Medical Spanish I, I am now enrolled in two short, sequential Spanish courses for this Spring: Conversational (CE) Spanish II and Spanish III classes through ACC’s Continuing Education department. It has been a year since my last class, in which time I have been using Duolingo and (more recently) Mango Languages through the Austin Public Library (APL). But of course, I am still not fluent, so here we go again! We used the textbook “Advanced Spanish: Step-by-Step — Master Accelerated Grammar to Take Your Spanish to the Next Level” (p.74–86) by Barbara Bregstein, should you wish to follow along as well. Finally, apologies in advance for the lack of accents and appropriate punctuation in my notes.

Reviewing The Present Progressive Tense

Uses of the Gerund (-ing) with Verbs Other than ESTAR

Seguir + Progressive Means “to keep/continue (doing something)”

Llevar + Progressive Means “have been doing” (i.e., expressions of time)

Ir + Progressive Means “little by little;” “gradually”

Ir + Progressive Means “little by little;” “gradually”

Notes:

1. Sometimes the gerund (-ing) can be used without a helping verb
2. Either the gerund or the infinitive can be used after ver, mirar, eschuchar, and oir (the meaning is the same)
3. Generally not used in the gerund form are ser, estar, poder, querer, saber, tener, ir, and venir

The Preterite Progressive

ENDED

• Refers to a definitive time frame where action was ongoing but ultimately completed, estar + gerund of the main verb

estuve, estuviste, estuvo estuvimos, estuvieron

Note: The gerund is also used with seguir, venir, and ir

The Imperfect Progressive

INDEFINITE

• Refers to an action that was happening at some point in the past, estar + present participle (aka, was + -ing)
• Emphasizes the action was in progress at the moment it was interrupted (e.g., Estaba estudiando cuando llamste)
• Description and weather as well (e.g., los pajaros estaban cantando & estaba lloviendo)
• When the event is not specifically identified (e.g., NOT yesterday NOR last week, etc.)

Notes:

1. Either the gerund (-ing) or the infinitive can be used after ver, mirar, eschuchar, and oir (the meaning is the same)
2. Generally not used in the gerund (-ng) form are ser, estar, poder, querer, saber, tener, ir, and venir

Estar

• estaba, estabas, estaba
• estabamos, estaban

Homework

Answer key: p.338–340

3.8 (p.69) Translate to English

3. Las nineras estan cuidando a muchos ninos en el parque. NOT The girls are taking care of many boys in the park. The nannies are taking care of a lot of children in the park.

✏️ Vocab: “ninas” girls VS “nineras” nannies & “a lot of” a better fit for “children” (but need context to know)

7. Por que le estan Ustedes mintiendo? NOT Why are you afraid of it? Why are you lying to him/her?

✏️ Afraid is “miedo” (to lie is “mentir”) OR “Por que estan mintiendo Ustedes.”

3.9 (p.71) Translate to Spanish

1. Why are the people crying? NOT Por que los personas estan llorando? Por que esta llorando la gente?

✏️ Synonyms: Personas (plural) VS gente (singular)

2. It is raining. NOT Esta lluviendo. Esta lloviendo.

✏️ “Llover” regular presente tense: “llueve” is the only instance of the stem-change

4. Why are the girls laughing? NOT Por que las ninas estan reiendo? Por que estan riendose las muchachas?

✏️ Ninas (1–13 y.o.) VS muchachas (13–30 y.o.), need context to know which is appropriate (NOT could work if “reiendose” because the verb is reciprocal; they laugh VS they laugh at each other)

5. It is our turn. NOT Es nuestro turno. Nos toca a nosotros.

✏️ Both correct

6. Teresa is waiting for the train, but she is losing patience. NOT Teresa esta esperando al tren, pero ella esta perdiendo su paciencia. Teresa esta esperando el tren, pero esta perdiendo paciencia.

✏️ a + el = “al” to indicate movement, but that is not happening here (“ella” and “su” are style and not necessary because the subject is clear)

7. What are you thinking about? NOT Que sobre estas pensando? En que estas pensando?

✏️ “En” is a preposition for when you are thinking about something casually (“sobre” means you are thinking a little deeper)

8. We are trying to fall asleep. NOT Estamos tratando dormir. Estamos tratando de dormirnos.

✏️ To go to sleep is reflexive, to yourself/by yourself so “nos” (“de” to connect the separate verb parts of the sentence, main vs dependent clauses)

4.3 (p.79) Preterite Review

-ar: e, aste, o | amos, aron -er/-ir: i, iste, io | imos, ieron

2. Ella no dijo nada. NOT dicio

✏️ Irregular verb “decir” even in the present tense (yo digo)

6. Octavio no pudo dormir anoche. NOT pudio

✏️ Verb “poder” is irregular also in the present tense (yo puedo)

7. Nosotros no fuimos al cine el sabado. NOT vamos

✏️ “Vamos” is present tense (“ir” is entirely irregular in preterite)

8. Me gusto mucho la comida. NOT guste

✏️ First-person conjugation, just drop the -ar and add -o (with an accent)

4.4 (p.80) Imperfect Review

-ar: aba, abas, aba | abamos, aban -er/-ir: ia, ias, ia | iamos, ian

7. Ella nunca estaba contenta. Siempre se quejaba. NOT quejabase

✏️ Reflexive pronoun “se” (at the end when the verb is in the infinitive form, which it is not here)