News events: present and imperfect continuous

The sound-spelling correspondences [n] and [ñ] are pronounced differently: like the [n] in 'poner' and the [ñ] in 'año'. 'Estar' means 'to be' and is used to express a state or location. 'You are' is 'estás' and 'you were' is 'estabas'. We use 'estar' in the present + present participle to describe ongoing events. This is called the present continuous. We use 'estar' in the imperfect + present participle to describe past ongoing events; this is the imperfect continuous. The present participle stays the same: remove the infinitive ending and add -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for -er/-ir.