Spanish · Chapter 7 · Lesson 6 · Grammar primer
Present progressive
Prescribed by the AQA specification.
The short version
The progressive never does the future
English says 'I'm flying to Madrid tomorrow'. Translate that word for word and you get wrong Spanish, because estar plus gerund describes only what is unfolding at the moment of speaking. For a planned future use the plain present, or ir a plus infinitive. Rule of thumb: if the action has not started, the progressive is wrong.
Vuelo a Madrid mañana.
Llevo dos horas esperando
To say how long something has been going on, Spanish uses llevar plus a time plus a gerund, and it keeps llevar in the present because the action still is. Llevo dos horas estudiando. Llevamos un año viviendo aquí. English switches to a perfect at this point and Spanish does not, which is why the clumsy 'have been -ing for' calque gives you away.
Llevo dos horas estudiando.
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Lesson 6 of 11 in this chapter