To say what is happening now in Spanish, you can use the Present Continuous.
To form this you will need two parts:
The present tense of ESTAR and the PRESENT PARTICIPLE.
Can you remember the formation of the verb ESTAR (to be) in the present tense? Here it is ...
| estoy |
| estás |
| está |
| estamos |
| estáis |
| están |
To form the regular present participle you need to remove from the infinitive the -AR or -ER or -IR and then add these endings:
-AR verb > add -ANDO for example: hablar > hablando. (speaking)
-ER verb > add -IENDO for example: comer > comiendo. (eating)
-IR verb > add -IENDO for example: vivir > viviendo. (living)
Irregular present participles have a spelling change:
| Infitivo | Gerundio | Inglés |
| DORMIR | DURMIENDO | SLEEPING |
| MORIR | MURIENDO | DYING |
| MENTIR | MINTIENDO | LYING |
| REIR | RIENDO | LAUGHING |
| SERVIR | SIRVIENDO | SERVING |
| DECIR | DICIENDO | SAYING |
| PREFERIR | PREFIRIENDO | |
| SEGUIR | SIGUIENDO | FOLLOWING |
| LEER | LEYENDO | READING |
| CONSTRUIR | CONSTRUYENDO | BUILDING |
| OIR | OYENDO | HEARING |
| TRAER | TRAYENDO | BRINGING |
| IR | YENDO | GOING |
Finally you put the part of ESTAR and the PRESENT PARTICIPLE together:
For example:
I am eating > Estoy comiendo
My brother is sleeping > Mi hermano está durmiendo (irregular participle - look at above box)