Mastering the Past Progressive Tense in Spanish , LEVEL B1

 

What are the Past Progressive Tenses?

Spanish actually features two progressive tenses in the past: the imperfect progressive and the preterit progressive. Both express past actions that were actively occurring or in progress—equivalent to the English "was/were walking" or "was/were running".

These tenses are specifically used to intensify and bring focus to:

• 🔄 An action that was in progress in the past

• 🎬 An event that was actively happening in the past

Simple Imperfect vs. Imperfect Progressive

If you don't feel the need to emphasize or intensify the progressive nature of the action, you can simply use the simple imperfect tense. Look at the difference in feel:

• El hombre trabajaba mucho. (The man was working / used to work a lot.)

• La mujer cocinaba su cena. (The woman was cooking her supper.)

• Los niños se reían. (The children were laughing.)

• Toda la familia se divertía. (The whole family was having a good time.)

How to Form the Imperfect Progressive Tense

Just like its present-tense counterpart, the imperfect progressive is a compound tense made of two pieces:

1. The verb estar conjugated in the imperfect tense.

2. The gerund (the -ando or -iendo form) of your main verb.

Step 1: Conjugating Estar in the Imperfect

Here is how you conjugate estar to mean "was" or "were":

Subject Pronoun	Imperfect Form of Estar	English Translation	Example
yo	estaba	I was...	yo estaba jugando (I was playing)
tú	estabas	you (informal) were...	tú estabas bebiendo (you were drinking)
él / ella / Ud.	estaba	he / she / you (formal) was...	él estaba pintando (he was painting)
nosotros	estábamos	we were...	nosotros estábamos corriendo (we were running)
vosotros	estabais	you all (Spain) were...	vosotros estabais sonriendo (you were smiling)
ellos / ellas / Uds.	estaban	they / you all were...	ellos estaban cenando (they were dining)

Real-World Examples with Estar

We often use this tense to set the scene right before a sudden interruption occurs:

• El estudiante estaba durmiendo cuando el maestro empezó la clase. (The student was sleeping when the teacher began the class.)

• Yo estaba atravesando la calle cuando vi venir el carro. (I was crossing the street when I saw the car coming.)

• El portero nos estaba ayudando con la maleta. (The doorman was helping us with the suitcase.)

• El gerente estaba mostrándoles la habitación. (The manager was showing them the room.)

• Estábamos bailando cuando se apagaron las luces. (We were dancing when the lights went out.)

Levelling Up: Using Seguir, Ir, and Venir

You aren't restricted to just using estar! You can also conjugate the verbs seguir (to continue/follow), ir (to go), and venir (to come) in the imperfect to add unique shades of meaning to your past actions:

• La muchacha iba aprendiendo la lección. (The girl was learning the lesson little by little.)

• Ellas venían hacia nosotros bailando y hablando. (They were coming toward us dancing and talking.)

• Los perros seguían ladrando en la calle. (The dogs continued barking in the street.)

Verbs to Avoid in the Progressive Form

Some verbs do not play nicely with the past progressive structure. Verbs that describe states of being, possession, mental actions, or directional motion—such as ser, estar, poder, querer, saber, tener, ir, and venir—are rarely used as gerunds in this tense. Instead, they simply stick to the simple imperfect tense:

• Hubo un tiempo cuando podíamos viajar mucho. (There was a time when we were able to travel a lot.)

• Ella quería ir a España a estudiar. (She wanted to go to Spain to study.)

• Sócrates dijo que no sabía lo que no sabía. (Socrates said that he did not know what he did not know.)

• Yo iba a la tienda cuando vi a mi amigo. (I was going to the store when I saw my friend.)

• Mis primos me dijeron que venían a verme, pero no llegaron. (My cousins told me that they were coming to see me, but they didn't arrive.)