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The present and imperfect progressive both are used to express ongoing, progressive action in the present and past, respectively. For example: Estoy haciendo mi tarea. (I am doing my homework) Estamos estudiando. (We are studying) Estaba escuchando la radio. (I was listening to the radio) Él estaba limpiando su cuarto. (He was cleaning his room)
This optionally continuous meaning that can be underlined by using the continuous form is a feature of the present and imperfect. The preterite never has this meaning, even in the continuous form, and the future has it only when it is in the continuous form.
The progressive aspects (also called "continuous tenses") are formed by using the appropriate tense of estar + present participle (gerundio), and the perfect constructions are formed by using the appropriate tense of haber + past participle (participio). When the past participle is used in this way, it invariably ends with -o.
In the Amazigh language, past continuous is formed by using the fixed participle ttugha (original meaning: I forgot); ttugha is added before the verb that is in the present tense. So we have: Ntta itari: he writes / he is writing Ntta ttugha itari: he was writing Present continuous is usually the same as the present tense.
A number of multi-word constructions exist to express the combinations of present tense with the basic form of the present tense is called the simple present; there are also constructions known as the present progressive (or present continuous) (e.g. am writing), the present perfect (e.g. have written), and the present perfect progressive (e.g ...
In Spanish, for instance, subject pronouns do not need to be explicitly present, but in French, its close relative, they are obligatory. The Spanish equivalent to the French je suis (I am) can be simply soy (lit. "am"). The pronoun yo (I) in the explicit form yo soy is used only for emphasis or to clear ambiguity in complex texts.
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The progressive present is a grammatical tense that is used only if an action is actually in progress at the time. For example, in Spanish , "estoy leyendo" means "I am reading (right now)." It is formed by using the present indicative of estar plus the present participle of the verb.