Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ellos estaban leyendo esa encuesta sobre la minoría. - They were reading that survey about the minority.

Ellos estaban leyendo esa encuesta sobre la minoría.

They were reading that survey about the minority.

Breakdown of Ellos estaban leyendo esa encuesta sobre la minoría.

to be (location/state)

esa

that (feminine)

Questions & Answers about Ellos estaban leyendo esa encuesta sobre la minoría.

Why is it leyendo with a 'y' instead of an 'i'?

When forming the gerund (the -ing form) of an -er or -ir verb whose stem ends in a vowel, like leer (to read), the 'i' changes to a 'y' to make it easier to pronounce. So, instead of leiendo, it becomes leyendo. You will also see this spelling change in verbs like oír (oyendo) and creer (creyendo).

Could I just use the preterite and say Ellos leyeron instead of Ellos estaban leyendo?

You could, but it changes the meaning slightly. Estaban leyendo is the past continuous, which emphasizes that the action of reading was in progress or ongoing at that moment in the past (they were reading). Leyeron is the preterite, which simply states the completed fact that they read it (they read).

I remember esta means 'this'. Why do we use esa here?

Esa means 'that' (pointing to a feminine noun, like encuesta, that is physically closer to the listener or was just mentioned). If you wanted to say 'this survey' (something right here with you), you would use esta. Since the English sentence says 'that survey', esa is the correct match.

Why does minoría have an accent mark on the 'i'?

The accent mark breaks up a vowel combination (a diphthong) that would normally be pronounced as a single syllable. Without the accent, the word would naturally be stressed on the 'o' (mi-NO-ria). Putting the accent on the weak 'i' forces it into its own syllable and moves the spoken stress there (mi-no-RI-a).