Estudiando violín

Question

I put "estudio violín" and it was corrected to "estoy estudiano violín". Don't they both work? I thought present progressive tense meant the speaker was studying violin right at that moment?

Accepted Answer

Hola Peter
When we talk about something that you are studying as in an ongoing course we tend to use the progressive tense:

Estoy estudiando violín en el conservatorio.
¿Qué estás estudiando en la universidad?
Estoy estudiando idiomas en Birmingham.

It refers to ongoing studies that you are currently doing. 
Inma

Answer

Hi Peter,"Estudio violín" means "I study violin" which doesn't really work. Being the present progressive tense, "estoy estudiando violín" means "I am studying (how to play the) violin." It conveys an activity in which you are currently engaged. In English we would all know what "I study violin" means. In Spanish it doesn't convey the immediate and ongoing nature of the activity in which you are engaged. Spanish really values the fundamental meaning of the tenses, whereas in English as spoken we have begun to bend the rules quite a lot. This becomes very clear when you cover the past tenses in Spanish, which for me have been fascinating, interesting and educating!Saludos. John