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> The “-ing” progressive form of present tense (“I am reading”) is unique to English from other European languages (in French “Je mange” can be translated as bo

> The “-ing” progressive form of present tense (“I am reading”) is unique to English from other European languages (in French “Je mange” can be translated as both “I eat” and “I am eating.”) Huh? We have the same construction in Spanish, which is another European language. "I read" -> "[yo] leo"; "I am reading" -> "[yo] estoy leyendo".

deleted 6y ago
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qsdqdf 6y ago
This form also exists in French, but uses a fixed expression and the verb infinitive, eg. "Je suis en train de lire", which could be translated literally as "I am in the process of reading".
globular-toast 6y ago
It didn't say you can't express the same thing. Of course you can. The point was the present progressive tense is unique to English. Also, the translation of present progressive in English is more often than not simple present in Romance languages. I only know French but, example "I am eating" would be "je mange" in most contexts. The French way to express progressive, as "je suis en train de manger" is relatively uncommon. I typed the following out in reply to a similar and now deleted comment about German having "Ich bin am essen" etc.: It's not a boring detail and you're missing the point. In the examples given in French, German and Spanish, the primary verb is "to be". That is to say, you are primarily expressing your current state. The tense is present. You are expressing your current state and in particular what you are currently doing. In English, present progressive is a first-class tense. When I say "I'm eating a sandwich", the primary verb is "to eat". I'm telling you my current state as a side effect only. The correct translation in French would be "je mange un sandwich". If the sentence was "I can't come because I'm eating a sandwich", the translation would probably be different. We also use the same tense to express future or an intention, e.g. "I'm going to town tomorrow", and more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_continuous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_continuous It's odd to to see people disputing the uniqueness of the present progressive tense in English. It's very well known amongst scholars and teachers. It's one of the very first things anyone learning English has to learn and, conversely, one of the first things an English speaker needs unlearn when learning a foreign language.
- deleted 6y ago
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- foldr 6y ago
  Sorry, but this seems like nonsense to me in relation to Spanish. The Spanish construction is pretty similar to the English one in usage. It may be slightly more restricted, but there is no linguistic basis for saying that one is a tense and the other is not. Linguistically speaking, the construction is not a tense unto itself in either language. (It's fine to talk informally about the "present progressive" as a tense, but no serious linguistic analysis of English would recognize the existence of any such tense as distinct from the present tense.) I actually remember being misled by the myth of the uniqueness of the English present progressive when learning Spanish. I'd keep trying to avoid the use of the present participle unless the relevant event was really in progress right now. But it's really easy to find examples where this is not the case. See e.g. the headline here ("how often are you singing?"): https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/tv/2019/08/12/con-que-frecuencia-estas-cantando-el-dificil-regreso-de-christell-a-la-competencia-de-rojo.shtml https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/tv/201... Or try a Google search for "these days I'm trying to": https://www.google.com/search?q=%22estos+dias+estoy+tratando+de%22&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB865GB865&ei=lnhgYOv8L8Sh1fAP6K-M8AQ&oq=%22estos+dias+estoy+tratando+de%22&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQ3bEBWKG0AWDdtAFoAXAAeACAAc4BiAHrApIBBTMuMC4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwjrn6vAgNPvAhXEUBUIHegXA04Q4dUDCA0&uact=5 https://www.google.com/search?q=%22estos+dias+estoy+tratando...
- the_af 6y ago
  > When I say "I'm eating a sandwich", the primary verb is "to eat". I'm telling you my current state as a side effect only. I'm not sure I understand the uniqueness. In Spanish this would be, in the context of a conversation: "Qué estás haciendo?" "Estoy comiendo un sandwich" Note this is idiomatic and the most common way of saying this, I'm not forcing it. "Comiendo" (from "comer", "to eat", is the -ing form in Spanish, and it's widely used).

deleted 6y ago

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qsdqdf 6y ago

This form also exists in French, but uses a fixed expression and the verb infinitive, eg. "Je suis en train de lire", which could be translated literally as "I am in the process of reading".

globular-toast 6y ago

It didn't say you can't express the same thing. Of course you can. The point was the present progressive tense is unique to English. Also, the translation of present progressive in English is more often than not simple present in Romance languages. I only know French but, example "I am eating" would be "je mange" in most contexts. The French way to express progressive, as "je suis en train de manger" is relatively uncommon. I typed the following out in reply to a similar and now deleted comment about German having "Ich bin am essen" etc.: It's not a boring detail and you're missing the point. In the examples given in French, German and Spanish, the primary verb is "to be". That is to say, you are primarily expressing your current state. The tense is present. You are expressing your current state and in particular what you are currently doing. In English, present progressive is a first-class tense. When I say "I'm eating a sandwich", the primary verb is "to eat". I'm telling you my current state as a side effect only. The correct translation in French would be "je mange un sandwich". If the sentence was "I can't come because I'm eating a sandwich", the translation would probably be different. We also use the same tense to express future or an intention, e.g. "I'm going to town tomorrow", and more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_continuous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_continuous It's odd to to see people disputing the uniqueness of the present progressive tense in English. It's very well known amongst scholars and teachers. It's one of the very first things anyone learning English has to learn and, conversely, one of the first things an English speaker needs unlearn when learning a foreign language.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
foldr 6y ago
Sorry, but this seems like nonsense to me in relation to Spanish. The Spanish construction is pretty similar to the English one in usage. It may be slightly more restricted, but there is no linguistic basis for saying that one is a tense and the other is not. Linguistically speaking, the construction is not a tense unto itself in either language. (It's fine to talk informally about the "present progressive" as a tense, but no serious linguistic analysis of English would recognize the existence of any such tense as distinct from the present tense.) I actually remember being misled by the myth of the uniqueness of the English present progressive when learning Spanish. I'd keep trying to avoid the use of the present participle unless the relevant event was really in progress right now. But it's really easy to find examples where this is not the case. See e.g. the headline here ("how often are you singing?"): https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/tv/2019/08/12/con-que-frecuencia-estas-cantando-el-dificil-regreso-de-christell-a-la-competencia-de-rojo.shtml https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/espectaculos-y-tv/tv/201... Or try a Google search for "these days I'm trying to": https://www.google.com/search?q=%22estos+dias+estoy+tratando+de%22&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB865GB865&ei=lnhgYOv8L8Sh1fAP6K-M8AQ&oq=%22estos+dias+estoy+tratando+de%22&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQ3bEBWKG0AWDdtAFoAXAAeACAAc4BiAHrApIBBTMuMC4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwjrn6vAgNPvAhXEUBUIHegXA04Q4dUDCA0&uact=5 https://www.google.com/search?q=%22estos+dias+estoy+tratando...
the_af 6y ago
> When I say "I'm eating a sandwich", the primary verb is "to eat". I'm telling you my current state as a side effect only. I'm not sure I understand the uniqueness. In Spanish this would be, in the context of a conversation: "Qué estás haciendo?" "Estoy comiendo un sandwich" Note this is idiomatic and the most common way of saying this, I'm not forcing it. "Comiendo" (from "comer", "to eat", is the -ing form in Spanish, and it's widely used).