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.
Still struggling with this (and I can see I am not alone based on some comments, lol). Can I share my thinking and you tell me where I am making my mistake? On the quiz the question was: El policía persiguió al ladrón ________ no lo atrapó. (The policeman chased the thief but he didn't catch him. I went back and forth between "pero" and "sino que" for quite a while! I thought "pero" would work because it makes a contrast (chased / caught). But, then I noted the change in verbs before and after "but," (persiguio / atrapo) and thus used "sino que." This issue, where I feel a note a second verb is one of the largest reasons I keep getting this wrong. How should I be approaching this differently? Thanks as always for your help! PS - I didn't use proper accents above as when I do my computer kicks me out of this program!
No voy a ir a esa fiesta, por si acaso ________ con David. I am not going to that party just in case I bump into David.
me encontrara
Son muy populares los siguientes platos: The following dishes are very important
I am confused as to why this sentence is ordered in this way. Why does Los siguientes platos precede son muy populares?
thanks
Do all ordinal numbers ending in 1/3 undergo the change? I understand the first word will not (decimoprimero or vigésimo tercero will NOT be decimprimero or vigésim tercero),, BUT the second (primero/tercero) does??
Ex/ decimoprimer.
vigésimo tercer
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.
Thank you Silvia ! ... It was probably more like a C2-level exercise, but we do of course benefit from having to make that extra effort ... Un abrazo - David M
Listen to the birds sing.
I put ' escuchar al canto de los pájaros'. I don't understand why this is incorrect as another option given was 'escuchar a los pájaros cantar'
I'm not sure when I can use escuchar + a
Gracias
I just took one of the B1 quizes and I got this one wrong:
La había comprado para sus padres. ________ la había comprado. (He'd bought it for his parents. He'd bought it for them.)
It says the answer is "Se la habia comprado." I put "Por ellos, la había comprado."
Is it ever correct to "por" whoever, instead of "se"?
It sounds more natural to me to say "La había comprado por ellos," rather than "Se lo había comprado." It also seems clearer because "ellos" is specific (them), where as "se" could be you, him, them...
Is that wrong? Less common? Common only in certain countries or situations?
Send me this but in english
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