Confused about multiple uses of the present tenseHello,
There have been a number of questions in different topic areas along the lines of “Why don’t we use the present progressive tense for such and such an example in Spanish when the English translation is in the present progressive tense?” An example might be “Compro unas playeras” being translated as “I am buying some t-shirts”.
The answer that the instructors give is usually along the lines of, the Spanish present tense can often be translated as the present progressive tense in English.
In addition, I rarely hear the present progressive tense being used from day to day here in Mexico. Google AI agrees with me:
"In Mexican Spanish, the present indicative (voy) is significantly more common for everyday use than the present progressive (estoy yendo). While both can describe actions happening in the moment, the simple present is the "default" choice in most social contexts."
In the kwiz questions I keep answering using the present tense, just out of habit. It's not that I don't know how to use the present progressive tense, it's just that I'm not used to hearing it. This habiit is so strong that sometimes I even miss the instructions.
So maybe the present tense answers shouldn't always be marked wrong, and trigger words such as "en este momento" should be used more often? Also, maybe this idea could be added to the above lesson.
PS You may wonder why I'm studying level A1 if I already speak Spanish daily. It is because I want to strengthen my foundation and in general Kwiziq has been invaluable with this.
Hello,
There have been a number of questions in different topic areas along the lines of “Why don’t we use the present progressive tense for such and such an example in Spanish when the English translation is in the present progressive tense?” An example might be “Compro unas playeras” being translated as “I am buying some t-shirts”.
The answer that the instructors give is usually along the lines of, the Spanish present tense can often be translated as the present progressive tense in English.
In addition, I rarely hear the present progressive tense being used from day to day here in Mexico. Google AI agrees with me:
"In Mexican Spanish, the present indicative (voy) is significantly more common for everyday use than the present progressive (estoy yendo). While both can describe actions happening in the moment, the simple present is the "default" choice in most social contexts."
In the kwiz questions I keep answering using the present tense, just out of habit. It's not that I don't know how to use the present progressive tense, it's just that I'm not used to hearing it. This habiit is so strong that sometimes I even miss the instructions.
So maybe the present tense answers shouldn't always be marked wrong, and trigger words such as "en este momento" should be used more often? Also, maybe this idea could be added to the above lesson.
PS You may wonder why I'm studying level A1 if I already speak Spanish daily. It is because I want to strengthen my foundation and in general Kwiziq has been invaluable with this.
Why is con used in this sentence: yo sueno con vivir in Cuba? Co means with right?
Those of us who are old enough to have been taught grammar and parsing will be familiar with the concept of indirect questions. Maybe if that could be added to the explanation it would be clearer than "at what moment in time". (For some of us "indirect question" will be more familiar than "indirect interrogative sentence" because of what we were taught at school.)
Also "A ver" is, I believe, one of those impossible-to-translate phrases and the translation "Let's see" might not immediately make native-English-speakers think of indirect questions. When I thought about it some more I thought that "I wonder when..." might be clearer
As somebody already pointed out, if you're not aiming to do much writing, this point is really a marginal concern and I admit that I'm tempted to ignore it.
I think the translation should be three thirty no half three.
Cómo explicarías "le" en la siguiente frase?
Es "the accidental se'?
Sus ojos se le llenaron de
lágrimas.
Hi there!
What are the other pronouns? What if we want to say: "They like the train"? Do those pronouns follow the rules of the reflective ones? So, is it: "se gusta el tren"?
Please add “los anocheceres” to the lesson as an exception.
Only “Los amaneceres” is mentioned.
I´ve just learned that I can use qué+ser to definite a meaning of what is it.
Why the sentence doesn´t add ser? Thanks.
¿________ significa "presumido"?
If the author was travelling to Peru and he said he spoke Spanish, is this article Peru Spanish or Spanish Spanish?
It seems as if we can think of "lo" as "that," as in, "That I don't know" for "no lo se." This seems to fit with all the examples above.
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