Imperfect: estar+ando/iendo or -aba/-ía?
Are there situations where you should use "estar + ando/iendo" in the Imperfect Tense instead of using "-aba/-ía" or are they interchangeable?
For example, if I want to say "She was visiting some friends when the storm started" is it the same to say ""Ella visitaba a unos amigos cuando comenzó la tormenta" and "Ella estaba visitando a unos amigos cuando comenzó la tormenta", or is there a difference in meaning?
¿Hay situaciones donde se debe usar "estar + ando/iendo" en el imperfecto en vez de usar "-aba/-ía" o son intercambiables?
Por ejemplo, si quiero decir "She was visiting some friends when the storm started" es lo mismo decir "Ella visitaba a unos amigos cuando comenzó la tormenta" y "Ella estaba visitando a unos amigos cuando comenzó la tormenta", o hay una diferencia de significado?
1 Answer
Grammatically they are amost the same, but if you wish to stress the action that was ongoing at that time, use the imperfect tense of "estar" + andi/iendo combination.
"María hablaba con su amigo" could mean both that María was speaking and "used to" speak with her friend.
María estababa hablando con su amigo." stresses the ongoing action--"was speaking"
It's similar to using the the present tense to talk about action in progress, but if you really want to stress that the action is presently ongoing use present tense of Estar + ando/iendo forms of verbs.
Your last sentence stresses the progressive ongoing action and is quite proper in narration.
