PAST CONTINUOUS
The past continuous can be used to describe what happened in the past. For example I was speaking. In English we often use this tense to say what happened in the past e.g. I was working on Friday.
This tense is formed by using the imperfect part of the verb Estar plus the present participle. The present participle is formed from the stem of the verb plus ando for AR verbs and iendo for ER and IR verbs.
| VERB | STEM | ADD | PAST PARTICIPLE |
| HABLAR | HABL | ANDO | HABLANDO |
| COMER | COM | IENDO | COMIENDO |
| VIVIR | VIV | IENDO | VIVIENDO |
AR
| I was speaking | Estaba hablando |
| You were speaking | Estabas hablando |
| He/she/it/ was speaking | Él/ella/usted estaba hablando |
| We were speaking | Estábamos hablando |
| All of you were speaking | Estabais hablando |
| They were speaking | Ellos/ellas/ustedes estaban hablando |
ER
| I was eating | Estaba comiendo |
| You were eating | Estabas comiendo |
| He/she/it/ was eating | Él/ella/usted estaba comiendo |
| We were eating | Estábamos comiendo |
| All of you were eating | Estabais comiendo |
| They were eating | Ellos/ellas/ustedes estaban comiendo |
IR
| I was living | Estaba viviendo |
| You were living | Estabas viviendo |
| He/she/it/ was living | Él/ella/usted estaba viviendo |
| We were living | Estábamos viviendo |
| All of you were living | Estabais viviendo |
| They were living | Ellos/ellas/ustedes estaban viviendo |