Introduction

If you've ever frozen mid-sentence trying to decide between "estaba comiendo" and "estuve comiendo," you're not alone — this is one of the most common sticking points for A2 Spanish learners. Both phrases translate roughly to "I was eating" in English, but they are not interchangeable. Choosing the wrong one can make a sentence feel unfinished, or completely change its meaning.

In this lesson, based on a real Spanish class by Virginia, a native Spanish teacher from Argentina, you'll learn a simple, practical way to decide which form to use — with real examples, a full vocabulary list, exercises, and an answer key so you can check your progress.

Watch the Lesson

Before reading on, it helps to hear these structures spoken naturally by a native speaker. Watch the original lesson in this blog post.

Listening to the video first will help the explanations below feel much more natural.

What You'll Learn

• The difference between estaba + gerundio and estuve + gerundio
• A simple test to decide which one to use in a sentence
• How to form the gerundio (including irregular forms like durmiendo)
• Key verbs, vocabulary, and collocations from the lesson
• Common mistakes A2 learners make with this structure
• Reading practice, 15+ exercises, an answer key, and speaking/writing activities

Key Spanish From the Lesson

FROM THE VIDEO — these are real sentences and mini-explanations taken directly from Virginia's class.

Spanish: Estaba esperando el autobús cuando el teléfono sonó. English: I was waiting for the bus when the phone rang. Explanation: Two actions are connected. The first action (esperando) was already happening when the second one (sonó) interrupted it.

Spanish: Estuve esperando el autobús por muchas horas. English: I waited for the bus for many hours. Explanation: This talks about just one completed action, with no interruption and no second action needed.

Spanish: Él y yo estábamos conversando y bebiendo algo, y luego llegó Liliana y se nos unió. English: He and I were talking and having a drink, and then Liliana arrived and joined us. Explanation: Estábamos needs something else to complete the idea — here it's completed by llegó Liliana.

Spanish: Eran las diez de la noche, yo estaba durmiendo cuando llamaron a la puerta. English: It was ten at night, I was sleeping when someone knocked on the door. Explanation: This is a classic storytelling pattern: set the scene with the imperfect, then interrupt it with a completed action.

Spanish: Estuve cocinando hasta la noche. English: I cooked until nighttime. Explanation: By nighttime, the cooking was already finished — one closed block of time.

Spanish: Estaba cocinando cuando se hizo de noche. English: I was cooking when it got dark. Explanation: The two things happen at the same time — night falls while the cooking is still going on.

Grammar Explained

Grammar Point 1: Estaba + Gerundio (Imperfect Progressive) — An Action in Progress, Usually Interrupted

Example from the video: Estaba esperando el autobús cuando el teléfono sonó. English translation: I was waiting for the bus when the phone rang.

How it works: We form this with the imperfect of estar (estaba, estabas, estaba, estábamos, estaban) + a gerundio (-ando / -iendo). It describes an action that was already in progress in the past — like a scene playing in the background.

Why Spanish uses it: Spanish likes to clearly separate the "background" of a story (what was already happening) from the "event" that happens on top of it. Estaba + gerundio paints that background. On its own, a sentence like "estaba esperando el autobús" feels incomplete — your listener naturally waits for you to say what happened next.

Common mistake: Using estaba + gerundio alone, without a second action, when you only want to describe one simple, finished event. This can make your sentence sound cut off.

More examples:

1. Estaba estudiando cuando mi hermano llegó a casa. — I was studying when my brother got home.
2. Estábamos viendo una película cuando se cortó la luz. — We were watching a movie when the power went out.
3. Ana estaba trabajando cuando la llamaste. — Ana was working when you called her.
4. Los niños estaban jugando en el parque cuando empezó a llover. — The kids were playing in the park when it started raining.
5. Yo estaba manejando cuando escuché las noticias. — I was driving when I heard the news.

Grammar Point 2: Estuve + Gerundio (Preterite Progressive) — A Single, Completed Action

Example from the video: Estuve esperando el autobús por muchas horas. English translation: I waited for the bus for many hours.

How it works: We form this with the preterite of estar (estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvieron) + a gerundio. It describes an activity as a finished block of time, with a clear beginning and end. It does not need a second action to feel complete.

Why Spanish uses it: The preterite tense in Spanish is used for actions Spanish speakers see as "closed" or finished, even if they lasted a long time. Adding the gerundio just emphasizes that the action continued for a while during that closed period.

Common mistake: Using estuve + gerundio when you actually want to connect the action to something that interrupted it — in that case, you need estaba + gerundio instead.

More examples:

1. Anoche estuve leyendo hasta las dos de la mañana. — Last night I read until 2 a.m.
2. Estuvimos caminando por la playa toda la tarde. — We walked along the beach all afternoon.
3. Estuve trabajando en ese proyecto por tres semanas. — I worked on that project for three weeks.
4. El sábado estuvieron limpiando la casa todo el día. — On Saturday they cleaned the house all day.
5. Estuve pensando en tu idea y me gusta mucho. — I've been thinking about your idea and I like it a lot.

Grammar Point 3: The Two-Action Test — How to Choose

Example from the video: Cuando llegamos al bar, estuvimos haciendo cola por una hora. English translation: When we arrived at the bar, we stood in line for an hour.

How it works: Ask yourself: "Do I need to mention a second action, or is one action enough?" If one action after another is enough (a sequence, like blocks stacked next to each other), use estuve. If the two actions overlap in time (one interrupts or surrounds the other), use estaba.

Why Spanish uses it: This is really a question of how you see time. Preterite (estuve) treats time like separate boxes, one after another. Imperfect (estaba) treats time like a flowing background that another action can cut into.

Common mistake: Translating word-for-word from English "I was + verb-ing," which pushes learners to always choose estaba, even when Spanish actually wants estuve.

More examples:

1. Cuando vi a Ana, ella estaba con Juan. — When I saw Ana, she was with Juan. (background, ongoing)
2. Cuando terminamos de cenar, estuvimos hablando por una hora. — When we finished dinner, we talked for an hour. (one block, then done)
3. Estaba cocinando cuando sonó el timbre. — I was cooking when the doorbell rang. (interrupted)
4. Estuve cocinando toda la mañana. — I cooked all morning. (single completed block)
5. Cuando el profesor entró, los estudiantes estaban hablando. — When the teacher came in, the students were talking. (ongoing background)

Important Verbs

From the video, the star of the lesson is the verb estar, combined with several action verbs in the gerundio form.

Deep Dive: Estar (the key verb of this lesson)

Infinitive: estar Meaning: to be (temporary states, location, ongoing actions) Conjugation relevant to this level:

• Imperfect: estaba, estabas, estaba, estábamos, estaban
• Preterite: estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvieron

Example from the transcript: Estábamos haciendo cola por una hora. English translation: We were standing in line for an hour. Additional examples:

1. Estaba en casa cuando llamaste. — I was at home when you called.
2. Estuvimos en la playa todo el fin de semana. — We were at the beach all weekend. Common collocations: estar + gerundio, estar en casa, estar con alguien Common mistake: Mixing up estaba and estuve forms, or forgetting that estar changes meaning slightly depending on the tense used.

Deep Dive: Dormir (irregular gerundio)

Infinitive: dormir Meaning: to sleep Conjugation relevant to this level: Gerundio: durmiendo (irregular — the o changes to u, not dormiendo) Example from the transcript: Estaba durmiendo cuando llamaron a la puerta. English translation: I was sleeping when someone knocked on the door. Additional examples:

1. Estuve durmiendo todo el día. — I slept all day.
2. Mi gato estaba durmiendo en el sofá. — My cat was sleeping on the couch. Common collocations: dormir la siesta, dormir bien, quedarse dormido Common mistake: Saying "dormiendo" — correct, but forgetting the stem change happens in the gerundio of dormir and morir, unlike regular -ir verbs.

Deep Dive: Llegar

Infinitive: llegar Meaning: to arrive Conjugation relevant to this level: Preterite: llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegaron Example from the transcript: Llegó Liliana y se nos unió. English translation: Liliana arrived and joined us. Additional examples:

1. Llegamos al bar y estuvimos haciendo cola. — We arrived at the bar and stood in line.
2. ¿A qué hora llegaste ayer? — What time did you arrive yesterday? Common collocations: llegar tarde, llegar a tiempo, llegar a casa Common mistake: Using llegaba (imperfect) instead of llegó (preterite) for a single, completed arrival — arriving is normally seen as a quick, finished event.

Vocabulary

EXTRA PRACTICE FOR LEARNERS — organized by category, expanding naturally on the video's topic.

Daily Life & Routines

Verbs of Action (used with the gerundio)

Time Expressions

Spanish Collocations You Should Learn

Spanish: hacer cola English: to stand in line Meaning: to wait in a queue Example: Estuvimos haciendo cola por una hora. English translation: We stood in line for an hour. Common mistake: Learners sometimes say "estar en línea" thinking of the English "in line" — but that phrase in Spanish usually means "online" (on the internet).

Spanish: llamar a la puerta English: to knock on the door Meaning: to knock or ring at someone's door Example: Llamaron a la puerta mientras yo dormía. English translation: Someone knocked on the door while I was sleeping. Common mistake: Saying "tocar la puerta" is also correct in many countries, but learners often literally translate "knock" as golpear alone, which sounds more aggressive.

Spanish: hacerse de noche English: to get dark / for night to fall Meaning: describes nightfall happening Example: Estaba cocinando cuando se hizo de noche. English translation: I was cooking when it got dark. Common mistake: Translating word-for-word as "se volvió noche," which isn't natural Spanish.

Spanish: unirse a alguien English: to join someone Meaning: to come and be part of a group Example: Liliana llegó y se nos unió. English translation: Liliana arrived and joined us. Common mistake: Using "juntarse con" instead — it's also possible, but unirse a is the more precise match here.

Common Mistakes

Natural Spanish

Pronunciation

A2 learners often mix up the sounds of estaba and estuve simply because they look and sound similar at first. Here are two things to focus on:

1. The stressed vowel: In estaba, the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable: es-TA-ba. In estuve, the stress falls on the middle syllable too, but with a u sound: es-TU-ve. Practice saying them slowly, exaggerating the a in estaba and the u in estuve, so your ear learns to tell them apart quickly.
2. The "u" in gerundio words like durmiendo: Many A2 learners want to say "dormiendo" because that matches the infinitive dormir. Practice the irregular sound change out loud: dor-MIR → dur-MIEN-do. Say it slowly several times until the u sound feels automatic.

Reading Practice

FROM THE VIDEO topic, EXTRA PRACTICE reading passage (written for this lesson):

Anoche fue una noche extraña en mi casa. Eran las diez de la noche y yo estaba cocinando la cena cuando, de repente, sonó el teléfono. Era mi amiga Sofía. Ella me contó que estuvo esperando el autobús por casi una hora porque había mucho tráfico. Mientras hablábamos, escuché un ruido en la puerta. Llamaron a la puerta y yo pensé: "¿Quién puede ser tan tarde?" Colgué el teléfono y abrí la puerta. ¡Era Sofía! Me explicó que, al final, decidió caminar hasta mi casa en lugar de seguir esperando el autobús.

Nos sentamos en la cocina y estuvimos conversando y bebiendo té por casi dos horas. Le conté que yo estaba durmiendo muy poco esa semana porque estaba estudiando para un examen. Ella me dijo que también estuvo estudiando toda la tarde antes de salir. De repente, se hizo de noche del todo, y decidimos seguir hablando un poco más antes de que ella volviera a su casa.

English translation:

Last night was a strange night at my house. It was ten at night and I was cooking dinner when, suddenly, the phone rang. It was my friend Sofía. She told me she had waited for the bus for almost an hour because there was a lot of traffic. While we were talking, I heard a noise at the door. Someone knocked, and I thought: "Who could this be so late?" I hung up the phone and opened the door. It was Sofía! She explained that, in the end, she decided to walk to my house instead of continuing to wait for the bus.

We sat in the kitchen and talked and drank tea for almost two hours. I told her I had been sleeping very little that week because I was studying for an exam. She told me she had also studied all afternoon before going out. Suddenly, it got completely dark, and we decided to keep talking a bit more before she went back home.

Comprehension Questions

1. ¿Qué estaba haciendo la persona que narra cuando sonó el teléfono?
2. ¿Quién llamó por teléfono?
3. ¿Por qué Sofía estuvo esperando el autobús por casi una hora?
4. ¿Qué decidió hacer Sofía al final, en lugar de esperar el autobús?
5. ¿Qué escuchó la persona mientras hablaba por teléfono?
6. ¿Cuánto tiempo estuvieron conversando y bebiendo té?
7. ¿Por qué la persona estaba durmiendo poco esa semana?
8. ¿Qué estuvo haciendo Sofía toda la tarde antes de salir?

Exercises

EXTRA PRACTICE FOR LEARNERS — 15 exercises covering the grammar, vocabulary, and structures from this lesson.

1. Fill in the blank (estaba vs. estuve): Anoche yo ______ (estar) leyendo hasta las dos de la mañana.

2. Fill in the blank: Ella ______ (estar) durmiendo cuando sonó el teléfono.

3. Fill in the blank: Nosotros ______ (estar) haciendo cola por una hora cuando llegamos al bar.

4. Multiple choice: Cuando vi a Ana, ella _____ con Juan. a) estuvo b) estaba c) estuvimos

5. Multiple choice: _____ cocinando cuando se hizo de noche. a) Estuve b) Estaba c) Estamos

6. Verb conjugation: Conjuga el verbo dormir en gerundio: durm____.

7. Verb conjugation: Conjuga estar en pretérito para "nosotros": ________.

8. Vocabulary: Traduce al español: "to knock on the door" → ______.

9. Vocabulary: Traduce al español: "to stand in line" → ______.

10. Translation: Traduce: "I was waiting for the bus when the phone rang."

11. Translation: Traduce: "We talked and drank something for two hours."

12. Sentence building: Ordena las palabras: "durmiendo / cuando / puerta / la / a / llamaron / estaba / yo"

13. Error correction: Corrige el error: "Estaba durmiendo todo el día."

14. Error correction: Corrige el error: "Estuve esperando el autobús cuando el teléfono sonó." (si el hablante quiere mostrar dos acciones conectadas)

15. Complete the dialogue: — ¿Qué hacías anoche cuando te llamé? — ______ (estar) cocinando la cena.

16. Reading comprehension: Según el texto de lectura, ¿qué decidió hacer Sofía en lugar de esperar el autobús?

17. Sentence transformation: Cambia esta oración de una sola acción a dos acciones conectadas: "Estuve cocinando toda la tarde." → "Estaba cocinando cuando ______."

18. Short writing: Escribe dos oraciones sobre algo que estabas haciendo anoche cuando pasó algo inesperado.

Answer Key

1. estuve — a single, completed block of time (until 2 a.m.), no second action needed.
2. estaba — interrupted by the phone ringing.
3. estuvimos — a completed action that happened right after arriving (a block, not a background).
4. b) estaba — she was already with Juan when the speaker arrived (background action).
5. b) Estaba — overlapping with nightfall.
6. durmiendo — irregular gerundio of dormir.
7. estuvimos — preterite of estar for "nosotros."
8. llamar a la puerta
9. hacer cola
10. Estaba esperando el autobús cuando sonó el teléfono.
11. Estuvimos conversando y bebiendo algo por dos horas. (Natural Spanish, not a word-for-word translation.)
12. Yo estaba durmiendo cuando llamaron a la puerta.
13. Estuve durmiendo todo el día. — needs estuve because it describes one complete block of time.
14. Estaba esperando el autobús cuando el teléfono sonó. — needs estaba because it's connected to a second action.
15. Estaba — describes what was happening at the moment of the call.
16. She decided to walk to the narrator's house instead of continuing to wait for the bus.
17. Estaba cocinando cuando sonó el teléfono. (or any similar interrupting action — multiple correct answers are possible as long as the second action interrupts the first.)
18. Open answer. Model: "Anoche yo estaba viendo una película cuando se cortó la luz. Estaba muy oscuro y tuve que buscar una linterna."

Speaking Practice

Situation: Imagine a friend calls you and asks, "What were you doing when I called?" Using estaba/estuve + gerundio, tell a short story about your evening, including at least one interrupted action and one completed action.

Useful vocabulary: cocinar, dormir, conversar, ver una película, llamar a la puerta, sonar el teléfono, hacer cola

Useful sentence starters:

• Cuando me llamaste, yo estaba...
• Antes de eso, estuve...
• De repente, ...

Key grammar structures: estaba + gerundio (interrupted/background action), estuve + gerundio (single completed action)

Model answer: "Cuando me llamaste, yo estaba cocinando la cena. Antes de eso, estuve trabajando toda la tarde en mi computadora. De repente, sonó el teléfono y por eso te contesté un poco tarde."

Writing Practice

Assignment: Write a short paragraph (60–90 words) describing what you were doing yesterday evening when something unexpected happened.

Recommended length: 60–90 words

Grammar to use: estaba + gerundio and estuve + gerundio, at least one of each

Vocabulary to include: at least three words or expressions from the Vocabulary or Collocations sections (for example: hacer cola, llamar a la puerta, hacerse de noche)

Model answer:

"Ayer por la noche yo estaba viendo una película en casa cuando llamaron a la puerta. Era mi vecina, que estuvo esperando el ascensor por diez minutos y decidió subir por las escaleras. Estuvimos conversando por veinte minutos en la puerta, y luego se hizo de noche del todo. Fue una sorpresa agradable en medio de una noche tranquila."

30 Words You Should Remember

Final Thoughts

The difference between estaba and estuve + gerundio isn't about memorizing a rule — it's about learning to notice whether your sentence is a single, closed block of time (estuve) or an action still happening when something else occurs (estaba). With the examples and exercises above, you now have real tools to make this decision naturally, the way Virginia explained it in her lesson.