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Questions & Answers about Se está bañando ahora.
Why is there a se at the beginning of the sentence?
The verb for "to take a shower" or "to bathe" is bañarse, which is a reflexive verb. That means the action reflects back on the person doing it (literally, "he is bathing himself"). Since we are talking about "him" (or "her" or "you formal"), we use the reflexive pronoun se.
Can I put the se somewhere else in the sentence?
Yes! When you use the present continuous (the verb estar + a word ending in -ando or -iendo), you have two choices for pronouns like se. You can put the pronoun before estar, as in this sentence: Se está bañando. Or, you can attach it directly to the end of the action word: Está bañándose. Notice that if you attach it to the end, you have to add an accent mark to keep the stress in the right place.
Why does the English translation say "taking a shower" instead of "taking a bath"?
Why do we use está instead of es?