estaba haciendo vs hacía
From what I know estaba haciendo means the same thing as hacía. So can i really replace the estaba + iendo/ando form with the imperfect everytime?
If so, I noticed that the imperfect is used more often by native speakers, is this correct?
I am asking this because if it is completely the same and I don't sound more natural using one or the other I will just learn the estaba + iendo/ando form because i noticed that for me it's just easier the use while talking.
I would really appreciate your answers, thanks in advance
Greets from Belgium!
4 Answers
Generally (I hate to say always, because someone can always find an exception) you can make do with the regular imperfect and not need the imperfect progressive. And yes, that is what is done most of the time. But it does really emphasize being in the midst of something, and so is useful when you want to emphasize "I was right in the middle of doing this when that happened". So I would not totally throw it out. But you cannot use the progressive form every time that imperfect is called for- it only Works for one aspect of it.
The present progressive is also much less used in Spanish that English, but still worth knowing as well.
This is my opinion as an intermediate level learner.
Hallo/bonjour, Ben.
I sympathize with the desire to get away with learning fewer tenses.
If your desire is simply to be understood relatively well most of the time, you can make the substitution that you suggest. People understand "Yesterday I go to the store," so they will be fine if you stick to "estaba" + el gerundio. But... if you want not just to be understood, but also to understand, you might want to bite the bullet and learn the imperfect as well. And to answer your question, yes, the imperfect is used more often by native speakers. The great news is, the imperfect is actually one of the easier tenses to learn, as there are only three verbs that are irregular in the imperfect.
Will you please do us the favor of completing your profile?
So if I understand correctly: estaba + el gerundio only is used by native speakers when you want to emphasize "I was right in the middle of doing this when that happened". Like for example: "estaba corriendo por el parque cuando me lastimé mi rodilla". Emphasizing here the fact that you were running and not riding a bike. But "corría por el parque cuando el perro me ataqué." still is correct, only here you are just saying you were running as an introductory aspect of your story but the emphasis is on the dog attacking you.
Anything wrong with what i'm saying here? I love grammar, and prefer to speak a language the way a native does but it's difficult to find information on these little nuances because they are just not essential for being understood.
BenVP,
Yes. Estaba haciendo is the same as hacía, which in turn is not exactly the same as hice.
