The progressive or continuous tenses of a verb are those denoting an incomplete action in progress at a specific time.

In English, the three simple progressives are formed with conjugations of the auxiliary verb be and the present participle of a verb:

• Present progressive: I am eating, passive I am being eaten.
• Past progressive: I was eating, passive I was being eaten.
• Future progressive: I will (or shall) be eating, passive I will be being eaten.

In Spanish, the tenses work in essentially the same way, using the verb estar (="to be" for states or nonpermanent characteristics):

• Present progressive: Estoy comiendo (="I am eating").
• Past progressive: Yo estaba comiendo (="I was eating").
• Future progressive: Estaré comiendo (="I will be eating").

See perfect tense for the perfect progressive tenses.

See also: grammatical aspect.