Me Estoy y Estoy?

Question

Quiero saber la diferencia entre las dos. Me parece que significan la misma, pero no sé. Creo que si sé esto, entonces podría saber los otros ejemplos que son maravillos a mi. A ver, el primero ejemplo...

Me estoy cayendo.

Estoy cayendo.

Estos fueron de un examen que tomí, y aunque comprendí, todavía no sé las diferencias. Si se puede ayudarme, ¡entonces estaría contento! Se puede darme otros ejemplos también.

También, se puede corregirme, porque no sé hasta si usé la forma correcta de algunas palabras, pero se vive y se aprende. Gracias

Answer 1

Caer- To fall

Caerse- To fall down

Caerse focuses more on the fact that before the falling began, you were standing/ had a sense of equilibrium, while Caer simply focuses on the action of falling.

EDIT #1

I don't think estarse is the question being asked, rather "Caerse-Caer", since the reflexive pronoun can be placed either before or after the verb. Nevertheless, "Me estoy cayendo," to me sounds just like "I am falling," (just the same as "estoy cayéndome")

I haven't heard "estarse" ever even used, it might be a regional thing, but I have definately heard of "quedarse + gerund" to mean "To remain + gerund, or to stay + gerund" ...or even more commonly "seguir + gerund" to mean "to keep + gerund"

Me quedo llorando= I remain crying; I keep on crying; I stay here crying

Sigo llorando= "I keep crying; I continue crying"

If a native wants to confirm this or correct me here, that would be greatly appreciated

Very true, Brady, but the question is the difference in "estar" and "estarse". :)) - Noetol, May 20, 2012

But the example provided was not actually an example of using "estarse". It involved caer and caerse. Bad example chosen there. - Esteban3304, May 20, 2012

Great answer, BradyLabuda!!! - Esteban3304, May 20, 2012

Thank you Esteban :-) - BradyLabuda, May 20, 2012

Answer 2

When I look at "me estoy cayendo" I am thinking the reflexive quality is connected with "caer" not "estar". Caerse means "to crash" or "to fall", so I am thinking it means "I am crashing" or "I am falling" (at this moment). In my research, I did not see "estarse" ever being used as an auxilliary verb. None of the examples where "estarse" was being used, had it being followed by a participle.

Answer 3

Según mis recursos, "estarse", la forma reflexiva de estar, normalmente se utiliza para significar "quedarse", es decir, quedar en un lugar o una situación por un periodo de tiempo. In inglés, se dice "to stay". En tu ejemplo " Me estoy cayendo" significa una situación continua, como el inglés "I stay falling", mientras "estoy cayendo" significa sólo una situación en el presente. La diferencia es sútil, pero no puede intercambiar la palabras

According to my resources "estarse", the reflexive form of estar, normally is used to mean "to stay" i.e. remain in a place or a situation for a period of time. In English, you would say " to stay". In your example, "me estoy cayendo", means a continuous situation, like the English "I stay falling", while "estoy cayendo" means only a situation in the present. The difference is subtile, but you can't interchange the words.

Great answer!!! Helped a bunch. - 5454CkMac, May 20, 2012

Answer 4

Hay que decir "me" en este caso porque la expresión "caerse" es reflexiva. Me caigo, me caí, me estoy cayendo (o estoy cayéndome), etc.

'Me estoy cayendo' and 'estoy cayéndome' are the same thing, right? - 5454CkMac, May 20, 2012

Para mi son la misma cosa! aunq me estoy cayendo suena mas "normal" - Pablo04, May 20, 2012

de acuerdo! - unMica, May 21, 2012

Answer 5

Well, both mean the same thing " I am falling" but typically you would not use the " me" as it is already there in "estoy". If you want to be emphatic, of course you can add the "me " for emphasis, but it is redundant.

Paco the personal pronoun "yo" is built into estoy and all other verbs in first person on the other hand "me" is a reflexive verb pronoun which you have to use with a reflexive p.n. - kenwilliams, May 20, 2012