Grammar & Practice 1 of 3
The Past Continuous
in Ancient Japan
A2.2 · Samurai, Shoguns and Ancient Temples
1 GRAMMAR: What is the Past Continuous?
The past continuous (also called
pretérito imperfecto progresivo) describes an action that was in progress at a specific moment in the past. It works almost exactly like English "was/were + -ing".
Example:
Yo estaba estudiando cuando sonó el teléfono. ("I was studying when the phone rang.")
FORMULA: ESTAR (imperfect) + GERUND (-ando / -iendo)
2 Step 1 — Conjugate ESTAR in the imperfect tense
| Pronoun |
ESTAR (imperfect) |
| Yo | estaba |
| Tú | estabas |
| Él / Ella / Usted | estaba |
| Nosotros/as | estábamos |
| Vosotros/as | estabais |
| Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes | estaban |
3 Step 2 — Add the gerund (regular verbs)
| Verb ending |
Add |
Example |
| -AR | -ando | cantar → cantando |
| -ER | -iendo | comer → comiendo |
| -IR | -iendo | vivir → viviendo |
Grammar & Practice 2 of 3
4 WATCH OUT — Irregular gerunds
Important: Some verbs change their stem or spelling in the gerund. These must be memorized — they do not follow the regular pattern above.
| Infinitive |
Gerund |
Type of change |
| leer | leyendo | i → y (vowel + -er/-ir) |
| oír | oyendo | i → y (vowel + -er/-ir) |
| construir | construyendo | i → y (verbs ending in -uir) |
| dormir | durmiendo | o → u (stem change) |
| morir | muriendo | o → u (stem change) |
| decir | diciendo | e → i (stem change) |
| pedir | pidiendo | e → i (stem change) |
| sentir | sintiendo | e → i (stem change) |
| venir | viniendo | e → i (stem change) |
| poder | pudiendo | o → u (stem change) |
| ir | yendo | irregular / rare in this tense |
5 WHEN DO WE USE IT?
- To describe a scene in the past: Estaba lloviendo en Kioto. ("It was raining in Kyoto.")
- To place an action at a specific moment: Ayer a las dos, el shogún estaba comiendo. ("Yesterday at two, the shogun was eating.")
- To describe an action interrupted by another (with "cuando"): El guerrero estaba durmiendo cuando ocurrió el ataque. ("The warrior was sleeping when the attack happened.")
6 VOCABULARY
Here is the vocabulary you will find in the exercises below. Read it before you start so every sentence makes sense.
| Spanish | English |
|---|
| el samurái | the samurai |
| el shogún | the shogun (military leader) |
| el emperador / la emperatriz | the emperor / empress |
| el clan | the clan (family group) |
| la katana | the katana (traditional sword) |
| el templo | the temple |
| Spanish | English |
|---|
| el palacio | the palace |
| los monjes | the monks |
| el guerrero | the warrior |
| el ninja | the ninja |
| la batalla | the battle |
| entrenar / gobernar | to train / to govern |
