Nos [sentamos] en el banco mas lejano.

J W.A2Kwiziq community member

Nos [sentamos] en el banco mas lejano.

Shouldn't the English translation listed be "We [sit] on the bench that's furthest away." Instead of "We [are sitting] on the bench that is furthest away. 

I understand that you are asking for the El Presente conjugation of sentarse in this question. I originally answered it as something like "estamos sentiando" because I saw [are sitting]. 

Because in another question a few below goes like "Ella [esta comiendo] en el restaurante." I understand this one is asking for Presente Progresivo/Continuo.  

Asked 1 year ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola J

I understand it can be confusing when you see the English using  a different tense. I've changed that test-question to "Siempre nos sentamos..." so we can say in English "We always sit..." so the tenses match. 

Bear in mind though that you may find other sentences using the simple present in Spanish and the present continuous in the English. To know exactly what it's been tested, the hint is going to tell you the tense. When it says "el Presente" this is the simple present, and when it says "el Presente Continuo/Progresivo" this is the continuous tense using "estar + -ando/-iendo".

In Spanish we use the simple present sometimes for actions that would be expressed in the continuous tense and also the near future in English. Matching tenses would make it sound as either incorrect or very unnatural in English. 

I hope this clarified it.

Saludos

Inma

nev s.A2Kwiziq community member

Depends on context. We run around then we sit on the bench farthest away. She is getting  closer although we are sitting on the bench farthest away. 

Marcos G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Teaching English, I’ve found that we don’t always translate verbs literally.  When we translate to the present tense it’s when we’re speaking about a repeated action.  “I go to the store.” refers to something you do repeatedly.  “I’m going to the store.” means we’re doing something right now.  But we can get both these meanings from the Spanish present tense.  That is, “Voy a la tienda” can have both of the above translations.

J W.A2Kwiziq community member

Thanks for the responses

Nos [sentamos] en el banco mas lejano.

Shouldn't the English translation listed be "We [sit] on the bench that's furthest away." Instead of "We [are sitting] on the bench that is furthest away. 

I understand that you are asking for the El Presente conjugation of sentarse in this question. I originally answered it as something like "estamos sentiando" because I saw [are sitting]. 

Because in another question a few below goes like "Ella [esta comiendo] en el restaurante." I understand this one is asking for Presente Progresivo/Continuo.  

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