Estar+Ser+gerund

Donald S.B1Kwiziq community member

Estar+Ser+gerund

I find this concept a bit confusing and awkward. "Las joyas estaban siendo robadas por el ladron." I feel it should be simpler, "las joyas fueron robadas por el ladron."

This question relates to:Spanish lesson "Forming the Spanish passive voice with progressive tenses (passive voice)"

Asked 2 years ago

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InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Donald

The passive voice using compound tenses and progressive tenses in English may not be that common and may tend to be simplified to simpler structures, but in Spanish we use this type of long structure to convey the "continuity". By saying "were being stolen..." (estaban siendo robadas) we place ourselves at that moment in the past and see the action as something "happening" then. If we simplified it with "were stolen" (fueron robadas) then we don't see the continuity of that action.

Saludos

Inma

Like32 years ago

Donald S. asked:View original

Estar+Ser+gerund

I find this concept a bit confusing and awkward. "Las joyas estaban siendo robadas por el ladron." I feel it should be simpler, "las joyas fueron robadas por el ladron."

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« en ...add footnote?Why is "I was immediately fascinated by" translated in the p.c.? To me it is a description of how the person felt, thus I used the plus que parfait. »

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