PHRASES:
| Trabajo de tiempo parcial en un mercado. | I work part time in a market. |
| Mi jefe me supervisa por las tardes. | My boss supervises me in the the afternoons. |
| Gano relativamente poco pero me llevo muy bien con mis compañeros de trabajo. | I earn relatively little but I get along well with my work mates. |
| Trabajé por un año en una escuela secundaria. | I worked at a high school for one year. |
| Nos pagaban el primero del mes. | They would pay us the first day of the month. |
| Siempre he querido ser maestro de primaria. | I have always wanted to be an elementary school teacher. |
| Dejé mi curriculum con muchas compañías ayer. | I left my résumé at many companies yesterday. |
| Mi hermano Juan está solicitando para ser abogado. | My brother Juan is applying for jobs as a lawyer. |
| ¿A qué se dedica Ud.? | What do you do? |
| Ya que trabajo de tiempo completo me dan beneficios. | Since I work full time I get benefits. |
GRAMMAR:
Present Progressive Tense
The present progressive tense is formed with the auxiliary verb estar plus a main verb in its present participle form (e.g. estoy escribiendo). The present participle is formed with the stem of the verb plus -ando (for -ar verbs) or -iendo (for -er and -ir verbs). For example:
 |
cantar | cantando |
| hablar | hablando | |
| comer | comiendo | |
| beber | bebiendo | |
| ocurrir | ocurriendo | |
| vivir | viviendo |
In the case of -ir stem changing verbs the stem vowel changes. For example:
|
preferir | prefiriendo |
| pedir | pidiendo | |
| venir | viniendo |
Verbs with stems that end in a vowel also have an irregular form:
|
caer | cayendo |
| oír | oyendo | |
| traer | trayendo |
The verb estar must be conjugated to match the subject pronoun. For example:
|
Yo estoy comiendo. | I am eating. |
| Tú estás cantando. | You are singing. | |
| Él está hablando. | He is speaking. | |
| Ella está bebiendo. | She is drinking. | |
| Nosotros estamos hablando. | We are speaking. | |
| Ellos están estudiando. | They are studying. |
Present Progressive vs. Simple Present
Just like English, Spanish uses the present progressive tense to describe actions that are occurring while one is speaking (e.g. John is writing a letter). Also similar to English, the present tense is used to describe actions that one does repeatedly or habitually (e.g. John writes a letter every morning). One difference between the two languages, however, is that in Spanish the present tense can also be used to describe progressive actions. For example:
|
¿Qué haces? / ¿Qué estás haciendo? | What are you doing? |
| ¿Qué escuchas/ ¿Qué estás escuchando? | What are you listening to? |