A2 (Elementary)Lesson 1: Present Continuous & Gerund
The present continuous in Brazilian Portuguese combines the verb estar (to be) with gerunds to express actions happening right now or temporary situations, used much more frequently than in European Portuguese or Spanish.
Estar conjugated: estou, está, estamos, estão
Formula: estar + gerund (–ando, –endo, –indo)
Happening now → Estou comendo (I'm eating)
Temporary situation → Está morando no Brasil (is living in Brazil)
Near-future plan → Estamos viajando amanhã (We're traveling tomorrow)
Used far more than the simple present for current actions
Contracts in speech: tô, tá, tamos, tão + gerund
English uses "I work" for both a general fact and a right-now action, but Brazilian Portuguese keeps them apart: "Trabalho" (I work — in general) vs. "Estou trabalhando" (I'm working — right now). Getting this distinction right is a big part of sounding natural. From dodging blame ("Tá chovendo" — It's raining) to phone calls ("Tô dirigindo" — I'm driving), the present continuous is everywhere in Brazilian daily life.
estar (conjugated) + verb stem + -ando/-endo/-indo
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| Pronoun | Formal | Informal | Example with Gerund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | estou | tô | Estou/Tô estudando |
| Você/Ele/Ela | está | tá | Está/Tá dormindo |
| Nós | estamos | tamos | Estamos/Tamos comendo |
| Vocês/Eles/Elas | estão | tão | Estão/Tão chegando |
Step 1: Conjugate ESTAR
"Estou fazendo o almoço" (I'm making lunch)
"As crianças estão brincando" (The kids are playing)
"Estamos assistindo um filme" (We're watching a movie)
"Todo mundo está rindo" (Everyone's laughing)
"Ele está tomando banho" (He's taking a shower)
"Estou morando sozinho agora" (I'm living alone right now)
"Estamos economizando para viajar" (We're saving up to travel)
"Eles estão namorando" (They're dating)
Some verbs almost never take the gerund — the simple present already does the job:
❌ "Estou sabendo" → ✅ Sei (I know)
❌ "Estou podendo" → ✅ Posso (I can)
❌ "Estou querendo" → ✅ Quero (I want)
❌ "Estou tendo" → ✅ Tenho (I have) — though tendo dificuldade (having trouble) is fine
In Rio, "Tô chegando" can mean anything from "I'm at your door" to "I still haven't left home." Tone and context — not the words — tell you how close someone really is.
For body positions, Brazilians reach for a describing-word, not the gerund:
Brazil's estar + gerúndio ("tô fazendo") feels modern and casual, but it is actually the older construction: the gerund periphrasis was the original in Portuguese and still survives in southern Portugal, the Azores, and parts of Lusophone Africa. Portugal's now-standard estar a + infinitivo ("estou a fazer") only became dominant during the 20th century. So a Brazilian who drops the a is preserving the historical form, not breaking it. Source: Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa
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