Estoy hablando: what is happening right now

Forming the gerund

Drop the infinitive ending and add the gerund ending:

That covers most verbs. Two groups bend the rule.

After a vowel: -yendo

When the stem of an -er or -ir verb ends in a vowel, the i of -iendo is written y:

Stem-changing -ir verbs

The -ir verbs that change their stem in the present also change it in the gerund: e becomes i, o becomes u.

Poder is the one -er verb that does this. The -ar and -er stem-changers keep a regular gerund: pensando, volviendo. And ir has the one truly irregular gerund, yendo.

When Spanish actually uses the progressive

Spanish uses the progressive for an action under way as you speak, or across a current stretch of time:

1234

1. 1Está leyendo.
2. 2Está cocinando.
3. 3Está corriendo.
4. 4Está hablando por teléfono.

She's reading, he's cooking, he's running, she's talking on the phone: each one is in the middle of the action, so estar + gerund.

For habits, general truths and timetables, it uses the plain present, where English often says "-ing":

The plain present can describe the moment too: ¿Qué haces? and ¿Qué estás haciendo? both ask "what are you doing?". The progressive just underlines "right now".

The future trap: no progressive for plans

English uses "-ing" for plans: I'm flying to Madrid tomorrow. The Spanish progressive only covers what has already started, so a plan takes the plain present or ir a + infinitive:

• Wrong: Estoy volando a Madrid mañana.
• Vuelo a Madrid mañana. - I'm flying to Madrid tomorrow.
• Voy a volar a Madrid mañana. - I'm going to fly to Madrid tomorrow.

Rule of thumb: if the action has not started, the progressive is wrong.