New concept
Estar + gerúndio
To say what's happening right now, Portuguese works much like English be + -ing: a form of estar plus the gerúndio, the -ndo form of the verb.
Eu estou falando com a Luana. — I'm talking to Luana.
To make the gerúndio, take the infinitive, drop the final -r and add -ndo:
| Infinitive | Gerúndio | English |
|---|---|---|
| falar | falando | speaking |
| comer | comendo | eating |
| abrir | abrindo | opening |
So it's -ando, -endo or -indo, depending on the verb family. Two things make this easy:
- Only estar changes for the person. The gerúndio never changes — no gender, no plural: a Luana está comendo, os meninos estão comendo.
- Nearly every verb follows the rule, even the irregular ones: ser → sendo, ter → tendo, estar → estando.