"I go to school" and "I'm going to school"

Question

Hello Everybody!

I have got confused between in this two sentences

Voy a la escuela means I go to school and

Voy a la escuela means also I'm going to school.

How it could be possible? same sentence for both present tense and present continuous tense.

Answer 1

The main thing to remember is that in learning a language, you can't translate directly from English to Spanish or Spanish to English without getting the "feel of the phrase". Instead of trying to translate word for word (which in this case, the Spanish can be taken either way), think more, "this is the way they say this" rather than, "this doesn't fit with my English pattern I know".

thanks alot for helping me and explaining better - sweety11, Apr 13, 2012

I am learning so much. Gracias katydew! - 0095ca4c, Apr 13, 2012

De nada... ;o) Happy learning! - katydew, Apr 13, 2012

muchas gracias! - sweety11, Apr 15, 2012

Answer 2

That's just how some languages work (German is the same too)

There IS an explicit present tense (formed with Estar + participle) (por ejemplo, estoy estudiando) but it is in general used more literally, i.e. what one is doing RIGHT now, at this very minute, vs english's use of the present progressive over an extended period (for example, "I am going to school this semester)

In any event, with IR (to go), that is pretty much how it's done, from all I"ve been taught or heard. Hopefully, some spanish speakers more advanced than me will chime in and confirm.

thanks alot for helping me and explaining better - sweety11, Apr 13, 2012