Recursio
Spanish from zero with Recursio Lesson 46 of 100 · Module 10

Lesson 46. Right now: estoy comiendo

Step 1 · New words

10 words in this lesson

Tap 🔊 and repeat out loud. These words come back in the dialogue and the exercises below.

ver
to watch
buscar
to look for
jugar
to play
seguir
to keep (doing), to continue
ahora mismo
right now
la tele
TV
el partido
game, match
el ordenador
computer
las noticias
the news
el correo
email
Step 2 · Grammar

estar + gerund; seguir + gerund

Estar + gerund

To stress that something is happening right now, use estar (lesson 12) and the gerund, the form in -ando / -iendo, much like English -ing:

InfinitiveGerund
hablarhablando
comercomiendo
escribirescribiendo
  • Estoy comiendo. — I’m eating.
  • ¿Qué estás haciendo? — What are you doing?
  • Javier está viendo el partido. — Javier is watching the game.

Only estar is conjugated; the gerund doesn’t change.

A few special forms: leyendo (leer), durmiendo (dormir).

The simple present works too

The simple present (lesson 7) can also describe what’s happening now: ¿Qué haces? — “What are you doing?” Estar + gerund stresses that the action is in progress. Spanish uses it less than English uses -ing.

Seguir + gerund — still

Seguir + gerund means “to keep doing, still”: Sigue lloviendo. — “It’s still raining.” Seguir has a stem change e → i and -go in the yo form: sigo, sigues, sigue.

Words in this lesson

Jugar changes u to ue: juego, juegas, juega. The yo form of ver is veo. Ver can also mean “to see”: Veo la puerta. La tele is the everyday short form of la televisión (lesson 17). In many Latin American countries people say la computadora instead of el ordenador.

¿Qué estás haciendo? — What are you doing?

Estoy comiendo. — I'm eating.

Javier está viendo el partido. — Javier is watching the game.

Estoy leyendo las noticias. — I'm reading the news.

Sigue lloviendo. — It's still raining.

Step 3 · Dialogue

Dialogue

Listen to each line and repeat it. Try to understand it before you look at the translation.

Lucía Hola, Javier. ¿Qué estás haciendo? Hi, Javier. What are you doing?

Javier Estoy viendo el partido en la tele. ¿Y tú? I'm watching the game on TV. And you?

Lucía Estoy leyendo las noticias en el ordenador. I'm reading the news on the computer.

Javier ¿Estás en casa? Are you at home?

Lucía Sí. Y Nora está aquí. Está escribiendo un correo. Yes. And Nora's here. She's writing an email.

Javier ¿Sigue lloviendo? Is it still raining?

Lucía Sí, sigue lloviendo. ¿Juega el Valencia? Yes, it's still raining. Are Valencia playing?

Javier Sí, está jugando ahora mismo. ¡Y juega muy bien! Yes, they're playing right now. And they're playing really well!

Step 4 · Exercises

Check yourself

Listen. What did you hear?

1. How do you ask a friend “What are you doing right now?”

2. You're at the table. How do you say “I'm eating”?

3. How do you say “Javier is watching the game”?

4. The rain won't stop. How do you say “It's still raining”?

Match each word with its translation

Build the sentence: “I'm looking for my phone”

Build the question: “What are you doing?”

Lesson summary

What you can do now

  • Ask: ¿Qué estás haciendo?
  • Say what you're doing now: Estoy comiendo.
  • Talk about someone else: Javier está viendo el partido.
  • Say still: Sigue lloviendo.

Key phrases of the lesson:

¿Qué estás haciendo?

Estoy comiendo.

Javier está viendo el partido.

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