Speculating about the present
When someone doesn't pick up the phone, we often guess what they are doing right now. In Spanish, you can express this "probable present" by using the Future Continuous tense.
To form it, conjugate estar in the future tense (estará, estarán, etc.) and add a gerund (an -ando or -iendo verb). It translates to what someone "must be" or "is probably" doing.
| Don't call her anymore, she is probably driving and can't pick up. | No la llames más; estará conduciendo y no puede descolgar. |
| Is she unreachable right now? She is probably having breakfast in the cafeteria. | ¿Está ilocalizable ahora mismo? Estará desayunando en la cafetería. |
| He doesn't hear anything because of the hustle and bustle; his mobile is probably vibrating in his bag. | No oye nada por el ajetreo; su móvil estará vibrando en el bolso. |
You can combine this pattern with adjectives to speculate about a person's current state.
| My cousin doesn't answer; he is probably distracted playing the video game. | Mi primo no contesta; estará distraído jugando al videojuego. |
| My boss is probably very swamped working right now, or she has no coverage. | Mi jefa estará muy atareada trabajando ahora mismo, o no tiene cobertura. |
| She is not answering the phone. She must be working incommunicado in the basement. | Ella no contesta el teléfono. Estará trabajando incomunicada en el sótano. |
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