Language/Lingala/Grammar/Present-progressive-tense
The present progressive tense is used to say things like ‘I am speaking’ or ‘We are hearing’.
As with all of the other tenses, the construction of the present progressive starts with infinitives and subject pronouns. But this one might seem a bit tricky at first.
The present progressive requires the use of two verbs: kozala (to be) and the infinitive of the verb that matches what you’re doing or want to talk about.
So to be able to say that you, or someone else, or a group is speaking, you first need to conjugate the present tense forms of kozala, which you should already be familiar with:
nazali – I am
ozali – you are
azali – he/she is
tozali – we are
bozali – you are (plural)
bazali – they are
ezali – it is
Next, drop everything after the ‘z’ and add an ‘o’, which makes:
Nazo- Ozo- Azo- Tozo- Bozo- Bazo- Ezo-
This prefix is used in every single present progressive conjugation and you’ll soon become familiar with its use as well as starting to be able to recognise the distinctive ‘-zo-‘ sound of the tense.
Next, drop the ‘ko-’ from the infinitive form of koloba (to speak), leaving just ‘-loba’.
Then combine with appropriate prefix with the –loba suffix to make the correct form of the verb for what you want to say:
nazo+loba – nazoloba – I am speaking
ozo+loba – ozoloba – you are speaking
azo+loba – azoloba – he/she is speaking
tozo+loba – tozoloba – we are speaking
bozo+loba – bozoloba – you are speaking (plural)
bazo+loba – bazoloba – they are speaking
ezo+loba – ezoloba – it is speaking
And it will be the same for any other verb. For kosomba (to buy):
nazo+somba – nazosomba – I am buying ozo+somba – ozosomba – you are buying azo+somba – azosomba – he/she is buying tozo+somba – tozosomba – we are buying bozo+somba – bozosomba – you are buying (plural) bazo+somba – bazosomba – they are buying ezo+somba – ezosomba – it is buying
And for koyoka (to hear):
nazo+yoka – nazoyoka – I am hearing ozo+yoka – ozoyoka – you are hearing azo+yoka – azoyoka – he/she is hearing tozo+yoka – tozoyoka – we are hearing bozo+yoka – bozoyoka – you are hearing (plural) bazo+yoka – bazoyoka – they are hearing ezo+yoka – ezoyoka – it is hearing
Source
https://lobalingala.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/23042014-loba-lingala.pdf