come/comiendo

Question

I'm still a noob, but I learned "Ella comiendo pan," but today I saw it written as "Ella come pan."

Will someone please tell me the difference between these two conjugations?

Answer 1

Ella está comiendo = She is eating (Present continuous) (Comiendo is the present participle - they end in iendo or ando, in English they end in "ing")

Ella come = She eats (Present simple)

Here's a more detailed explination: http://www.espanol-ingles.com.mx/spanish-grammar/verbs_continuous.shtml

Answer 2

"come" - 2nd person singular - he, she, it - for "eats" "comiendo"- the "ing" form in Spanish,- "está comiendo" - "she is eating". Here is a link to the Reference lesson on this subject.

comes is 2nd person singular, come is 3rd person, singular - 0074b507, Jul 22, 2011

Answer 3

My problem was that ella was eating at that time, which I thought should call for the "está comiendo" conjugation.

The use of the progressive emphasizes that the action is in progress. The use of the simple present also encompasses present actions (but without any special emphasis).

Answer 4

Come is the 3rd person singular of comer and means eats. Ella come pan = She eats bread. Comiendo is the present participle/gerund of comer and means eating. Ella está comiendo pan = She is eating bread. This is an example of the present progressive which is used for actions in English that end with "ing". It is formed by estar + present participle/gerund which you can learn more about in the spanishdict lesson about the present progressive. Essentially you conjugate estar to the subject and then follow it with the "ing" verb using the ending -ando for -AR verbs and -iendo for -IR/-ER verbs. ** The important thing to note is that ella comiendo pan is NOT grammatically correct because it lacks está (estar conjugated to ella).

Present participle! There is no "gerund" in Spanish. - samdie, Jul 22, 2011

Answer 5

I think it would have been:

(Ella) está comiendo pan = she is eating bread (progressive)

Ella come pan= she eats bread (simple present indicative)

progressive tenses

simple present indicative

Please note that in Spanish simple present indicative is often used when progressive is used in English, and progressive tenses are generally used to emphasize that the action is currently in progress

Answer 6

Oh, man. I forgot the "está." (told you I'm a noob.) Thanks for the corrections and explanations everyone.

To be sure, I DID learn "Ella está comiendo pan," and that it means, "She is eating bread. But I saw something today that said, "Ella come pan." My problem was that ella was eating at that time, which I thought should call for the "está comiendo" conjugation.

Any comments/thoughts on this?

If you saw someone eating bread, wouldn't the statement "she eats bread" be reasonable. Keep in mind captions in lessons focus on what tense they are trying to teach you at the time. To get a sense of real usage, you have to look at real Spanish. ;-) - Stadt, Jul 22, 2011

What other picture could they possibly use to teach you the present simple? - rabbitwho, Jul 23, 2011