2.7 The Present Tenses of Spanish

This will be good news for you as a student because it introduces a simplification. There are only two forms of the present in Spanish, The Simple present tense and The Progressive present tense.

It is important to notice here that another simplification of Spanish is, given the more complex declension (changing of the form to express a syntactic function) of Spanish verbs, the pronouns at the beginning of sentences are often times unnecessary and, therefore, omitted.

Examples:

In short, the simple present form Camino may be translated as I walk.

As well as in English, the simple present is used to indicate an action that happens in the present, an action that is habitual, repetitive, customary, or facts and unchanging, scheduled or programmed occurrence (example: The concert STARTS at 5. Doors Open at 3.) or an expected behaviour. (Students leave cellphones in their backpacks during tests). Also undeniable Facts. (Water is expressed as H20) (Water boils at sea level at 100 degrees Celsius)

The present PROGRESSIVE is used in Spanish when speaking about a present, on-going action at the moment the speaker is referring to it and will involve the use of the verb ESTAR as an auxiliary, followed by the action verb of the sentence in the GERUND form.

Here is a useful tip: the -ING form of the English gerund is found in SPANISH in the suffixes -ANDO and IENDO.

Examples: