The Spanish Present Perfect Progressive Tense: A comprehensive guide.

Sometimes we think of an idea in English and wonder, “How can I say this in Spanish?” Well, the structure of the present perfect progressive tense in Spanish is very much like its English version. In this lesson, you’ll see how these sentences are put together. You’ll find that it’s not hard to understand and use this tense in both written and spoken Spanish.

• I have been waiting for you for hours
  He estado esperando por horas

• You have been studying a lot of spanish
  Has estado estudiando mucho español 

• They have been saying this to you for long time
  Ellos te han estado diciendo esto por mucho tiempo 

In this articles we’ll cover:

• Present perfect progressive
• How to use it
• Conjugations
• Examples
• Practice time
• Final words
• Answers 

Let’s get started!

Present perfect progressive

This tense is used to talk about an ongoing action that began in the past and is still happening. While it’s not always used in correct grammar like in English, native Spanish speakers often use it in everyday conversation. However, it’s not commonly used in formal writing or speech.

How to use the present perfect progressive 

In order to use this tense, we will need this important formula: 

Auxiliary verb Haber conjugated + the past participle of Estar + gerund of the main verb

For example: 

• She has been talking to her boyfriend for 5 hours 
  Ella ha estado hablando con su novio por 5 horas 

• We have been dating 3 months ago 
  Nosotros hemos estado saliendo hace 3 meses 

• He has been crying all morning 
  Él ha estado llorando toda la mañana 

Conjugations 

Subject pronouns	Auxiliary verb haber	Past participle of Estar
Yo	He	Estado
Tú	Has	Estado
Él/Ella/Usted	Ha	Estado
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes	Han	Estado
Nosotros/Nosotras	Hemos	Estado

And let’s review the gerunds of some regular verbs:

Verbs ar	Gerundio (verbs -ando)
Trabajar	Trabajando
Estudiar	Estudiando
Pagar	Pagando
Caminar	Caminando

Verbs er	Gerundio (verbs -iendo)
Tener	Teniendo
Hacer	Haciendo
Comer	Comiendo

Verbs ir	Gerundio (verbs -iendo)
Vivir	Viviendo
Salir	Saliendo
Escribir	Escribiendo

Let’s review some gerunds of irregular verbs as well.

Verbs	Gerundio (verbs -yendo)
Destruir	Destruyendo
Oir	Oyendo
Leer	Leyendo
Caer	Cayendo
Ir	Yendo

Examples  

• My daughter has been going to karate classes 
  Mi hija ha estado yendo a clases de karate 

• They have been working in new music 
  Ellos han estado trabajando en música nueva 

• I have been eating cereal all day 
  Yo he estado comiendo cereal todo el día 

• We have been buying healthy food
  Nosotros hemos estado comprando comida saludable 

• Have you been calling my mom?
  ¿Has estado llamando a mi madre?

• They have been waiting all morning 
  Ellos te han estado esperando toda la mañana

• Our TV has been failing since 2 weeks ago 
  Nuestro televisor ha estado fallando desde hace 2 semanas

• Our son has been reading more books 
  Nuestro hijo ha estado leyendo más libros 

• Laura has been living in switzerland
  Laura ha estado viviendo en Suiza

• You haven’t been going to class lately 
  Tú no has estado yendo a clase últimamente 

Practice time 

A. Fill in the blanks with the right conjugation 

• Ellas _________ (cocinar) el desayuno desde las 6 am 
• Nosotros _________ (construir) nuestra casa hace varios meses 
• Ellos _________ (Huir) de los zombis desde hace 3 días 
• El equipo ________ (practicar) para la competencia nacional 
• Nuestro jefe _________ (viajando) mucho, últimamente 

B. Make sentences with the following verbs 

• Escribir
• Hablar
• Enviar
• Oír 
• Traer 

Final words 

This tense is often used in daily conversation, but you won’t typically find it in a grammar textbook or dictionary. Even though it’s not traditionally used in formal situations (where the present perfect tense is preferred), it’s crucial to understand how and when native speakers use it in everyday speech.

Answers 

A. Fill in the blanks with the right conjugation 

• Ellas han estado cocinando (cocinar) el desayuno desde las 6 am 

• Nosotros hemos estado construyendo (construir) nuestra casa hace varios meses 

• Ellos han estado huyendo (Huir) de los zombis desde hace 3 días 

• El equipo ha estado practicando (practicar) para la competencia nacional 

• Nuestro jefe ha estado viajando (viajar) mucho, últimamente 

B. Make sentences with the following verbs 

• Escribir ____________________________
• Hablar _______________________________
• Enviar _____________________________
• Oír  _____________________________
• Traer  ____________________________ 

Check out our series of Complete Spanish Grammar articles – everything you’ll ever need to know about Spanish grammar.

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