Gerund or Present Participle?
In Spanish I often see that they use the Present Participle conjugation when in English we would use the Gerund. For example, "I am going to the cinema" is often translated as "Voy al cine". I know that "Voy" could mean either "I go..." or "I am going..." but what about "Estoy yendo al cine"? That also translates to "I am going to the cinema". So which one is used more often and does it change the meaning slightly depending on which one you use? I do understand that Present Participle can translate as an "-ing" word, but would you sound kind of posh if you used the Gerund often. Or is it that it's just plainly quicker to say using the Present Participle? Thanks
1 Answer
¡Hola! To answer your questions, Spanish speakers tend to use the present progressive tense (the -ing tense) a lot less than the simple present tense. They only really use it to emphasize on-going actions. NOT EVEN STATE. Unlike in English where we tend to use it a lot even to refer to actions that aren't happening at the moment necessarily, Spanish-speakers use it STRICTLY to refer to actions going on at the moment of speaking. If I were you, to avoid confusions, stick to the simple present. It's a more generalized way of expressing things going on in the present.
