Simple present in Spanish and continuous in English

Question

I have often told my students that English speakers love using the present participle –ing.

The other day I was watching football on TV Chelsea (supported by my brother) v Manchester City supported by a friend Darren.

City were winning 1-0 and the commentator said ‘Gana City’ = City wins.

In English we would never say that but would say ‘City is winning’ because the game is not finished.

Later the score was 1-1 and I found myself saying ‘Now both of them – my brother and Darren - will be crying’ !!

The future continuous tense for the present situation !!

Maybe Spanish is not so bad after all.

City were winning?? (subjunctive) City was winning.... - 0074b507, Dec 14, 2011

Thoroughly delightful and charming post, Ian. Thanks for "making" my day! ;) - territurtle, Dec 14, 2011

Really old post but Ian's use of "were" here needs defending. It is not an incorrect use of the subjunctive, it's just a matter of perspective: City (the team) was winning; City (the players) were winning. - jellonz, Dec 5, 2016

Answer 1

People around here would also say "Gana City." meaning "City is going to win." before or during the game. I realize that "va a ganar" is the grammatically correct translation of the English phrase, but the indicative can be used to refer to the past and future as well as the present.

But at that point in the game - about 30 minutes into it - no one could say "City is going to win" not even in Spanish. :) - ian-hill, Dec 14, 2011

They did not, they lost 2-1 - ian-hill, Dec 14, 2011

Actually, many people do. - lorenzo9, Dec 15, 2011

Answer 2

What happens with that is:

Gana City means both "City is winning and City wins".

EDIT:

Sometimes we say "va ganando" as opposed to "está ganando"

My point exactly why do Spanish speakers not say "city is winning" it is possible in Spanish too. - ian-hill, Dec 14, 2011

We do sometimes... :) - chileno, Dec 14, 2011

Answer 3

But at that point in the game - about 30 minutes into it - no one could say "City is going to win" not even in Spanish.

Actual conversation in a bar a few weeks ago:

Barcelonista: "Barcelona va a ganar esta tarde, ¿sí?"

Yo: "Sí."

Emelecista: "Gana Quito."

Barcelonista: "¿Qué vamos?"

Emelecista: "Dos jabas."

Barcelonista: "Hecho."

The game started 4 hours later and Barcelona won.

OK but my game was in progress - it was not going to start so no team could be said to be going to win based on scoring a goal. - ian-hill, Dec 15, 2011

I actually heard someone do exactly that at the same bar last weekend after the first goal was scored. The final score was 2-1. - lorenzo9, Dec 15, 2011

I agree that is often heard - but not by a professional commentator unless it is obvious - only a few minutes left and one team winning 4-0 - ian-hill, Dec 16, 2011