present indicative vs present progressive
In English, we use present progressive all the time(I am walking, I am eating, I am reading), but recently I found out that Spanish is quite the opposite. What I mean by that is Spanish speakers don't use it as freely as we do; Spanish speakers use it only when something/someone is truly in the process of doing something. So, I have some questions. Do you use present progressive when you are asking questions? (Qué estás haciendo vs qué haces) If not, are there exceptions like when a period of time is mentioned? (Qué estás haciendo "todo el dia"). Is there a different meaning, or connotation, between el autobús llega and el autobús está llegando, for example? What instances would you and would you NOT use the present progressive? I know the topic is a bit broad, but I've researched, and no textbook or website has made it as crystal clear as a Spanish native would. So, thanks in advance everyone! I really want to master this, as simple as it seems. You guys are great help!
5 Answers
Just foudn this thread, we do use present simple much more often than the progressive form. This is a very difficult isssue for students of English, as the translation often sounds absurd.
I am having lunch with my father tomorrow. Estoy comiendo con mi padre mañana
This is a good example as how to use it:
Se usa la perífrasis "¿Qué estás haciendo" para referirse a un momento intermedio, momentáneo y muy concreto de la acción. Se usa "¿Qué haces?", en un sentido más general, para preguntar sobre lo que que ocurre en la actualidad (aunque no sea exactamente "ahora"). Imagina a alguien que está arreglando el coche, y un amigo le pregunta:
¿Qué haces? - Arreglo el coche. ¿Qué estás haciendo? - Estoy limpiando las bujías.
En realidad ambas respuestas son posibles para las dos preguntas, pero la segunda se centra más en el momento específico por el que se pregunta.
Have a look at this thread.
Hi yvonneibe7,
I am not a Spanish native, but I have read a study that made the following contentions:
1). For most Spanish natives, the present indicative is used most often rather than the present progressive, and it can be used in place of the present progressive in all cases.
2). In the United States (likely due to the influence of the use of the present progressive in English), the use of the present progressive is much more common amongst Spanish speakers.
I am not sure if this answered your question to your own satisfaction or not, but I thought that I would share it as I found it to be an interesting study. Cheers. 
Can you link to the study you're referencing? I'd be interested in reading it
Hi Stobber,
I haven't been having much luck trying to track down the article that I was referring to regarding the shift towards the progressive tense in the Spanish speakers living in the United States, but I was able to find one source that corroborated what I had read previously.
In this article, the author asserts that there has been a general shift (particularly in the Southeast US) that has been detected by several researchers towards the use the progressive forms. In this article, however, from what I have just read, the author focuses the discussion on the shift to a progressive form of the imperfect tense that seems to be creating what she labels an "imperfecto pasado general" tense that is formed by the formula "estaba...Verb-ndo."
I have bookmarked this source and I will try to cross check some of the authors that are cited in this article to see if any of these are the articles that I had referred to earlier, but for now I am going to bed.
Here is a link to the other article that I have been speaking about. I am not altogether sure that this link will work because it is quite long, but in the event that it doesn't, you can find the article by doing a Google book search for the book:
IV encuentro internacional de lingüística en el noroeste: Estudios del Español.
And the article that I am referring to is on page 161 under the title Funciones del imperfecto progresivo en el español nuevomexicano by Rena Torres Cacoullos.
Good Night and Good luck.
[IV encounters internacional de lingüística en el noroeste: Estudios del Español][1]
[1]: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr;=&id=o94lcr55kZoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA161&dq=Imperfect+progressive+usage+patterns+in+the+speech+of+Mexican+American+bilinguals+from+…++JM+Chaston+-+Sociolinguistics+of+the+Spanish-Speaking+World:+Iberia,+…,+1991&ots=SVyM65Lvae&sig=yzUVaHseokLONBdgWyhJv21t_t4#v=onepage&q=Imperfect progressive usage patterns in the speech of Mexican American bilinguals from … JM Chaston - Sociolinguistics of the Spanish-Speaking World: Iberia, …, 1991&f=false
The article may also be of interest to you:
La Evolución de Estar + V-ndo Hacia Expresión Obligatoria del Aspecto Progresivo en Español
...the present progressive....Spanish speakers don't use it as freely as we do; Spanish speakers use it only when something/someone is truly in the process of doing something.
This is my understanding as well.
