How to Say "working on" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “working on” is “haciendo” — A1 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.
Examples
¿Qué estás haciendo?
What are you doing?
Estoy haciendo la cena.
I am making dinner.
Llevo dos horas haciendo mi tarea.
I've been doing my homework for two hours.
The 'In Progress' Word (-ing Form)
'Haciendo' is the Spanish version of 'doing' or 'making'. You almost always use it with a helper verb like 'estar' to talk about what's happening right now, just like '-ing' in English.
How to Form '-iendo' Words
To make the '-ing' form for most verbs ending in '-er' or '-ir', you just swap the ending for '-iendo'. For example, 'comer' becomes 'comiendo' (eating) and 'vivir' becomes 'viviendo' (living).
Don't Use It Like an Adjective
Mistake: “El hombre haciendo café es mi padre.”
Correction: In Spanish, you can't usually use the '-iendo' form to describe a person or thing directly. Instead, say: 'El hombre que está haciendo café es mi padre' (The man who is making coffee is my father).
Using it for the Future
Mistake: “Estoy haciendo mi tarea mañana.”
Correction: 'Estar + -iendo' is for right now or around the current time. For the future, it's better to say 'Voy a hacer mi tarea mañana' (I'm going to do my homework tomorrow).
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