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Present Progressive

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wafflestomp
May 30, 2010, 03:04 PM
In this thread: http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=8001&page=2

Some native speakers said you can say the present progressive for the future.. I was under the impression this was totally disallowed?

AngelicaDeAlquezar
May 30, 2010, 03:37 PM
"Totally disallowed" is too much to say.

Although "estoy yendo mañana a la playa" sounds unusual to me, it's very common in Mexico to tell someone: "nos estamos hablando/viendo", to say we'll be calling/seeing each other sometime in the near future.

I suppose it's just a matter of regional colloquialisms, and it doesn't replace the usual formulas, but present progressive can definitely be used for the future. :)

wafflestomp
May 30, 2010, 05:23 PM
My aunt who's a native speaker from Spain says that it's abolutely disallowed by any circumstance... so it's just a regional thing?

Rusty
May 30, 2010, 07:20 PM
It might be a regional usage.
The Spanish simple present tense is used to mean the near future. This can't be done in English. "I'm going to the park this afternoon," for example, is translated as "Voy al parque esta tarde." By extension, perhaps, the present continuous has also been used to mean the near future. But, I side with AngelicaDeAlquezar that "estoy yendo" sounds strange when it is used to mean a future event. "Voy a ir" or "iré" sounds much better. :twocents:

AngelicaDeAlquezar
May 31, 2010, 12:12 PM
The function of present progressive on a future action "sketches" what someone will be doing at some moment in the future.

Entonces el 18 de julio estamos volando a Alemania.
So on July 18th we'll be flying to Germany.

Te llamo a las cinco. Ah, pero vas manejando, ¿verdad?
I'll call you at five. Oh, but you'll be driving, right?

wafflestomp
May 31, 2010, 01:00 PM
She just told me it's totally disallowed even for that.. they seem to be grammar nazis in Spain :D

chileno
May 31, 2010, 04:13 PM
It might be a regional usage.
The Spanish simple present tense is used to mean the near future. This can't be done in English. "I'm going to the park this afternoon," for example, is translated as "Voy al parque esta tarde." By extension, perhaps, the present continuous has also been used to mean the near future. But, I side with AngelicaDeAlquezar that "estoy yendo" sounds strange when it is used to mean a future event. "Voy a ir" or "iré" sounds much better. :twocents:

Conversely, some people will say "Díle a tu papá que nos vamos en diez minutos" :-)

Rusty
May 31, 2010, 05:28 PM
Conversely, some people will say "Díle a tu papá que nos vamos en diez minutos" :-)That's what I said. The simple present (nos vamos) is used to express the near future in Spanish. We can't use the simple present in English to express the near future.

chileno
May 31, 2010, 05:41 PM
That's what I said. The simple present (nos vamos) is used to express the near future in Spanish. We can't use the simple present in English to express the near future.

My problem is that you speak grammatique, and I don't. :)

That, and I quoted you instead of Angélica.

Rusty
May 31, 2010, 05:56 PM
O K :thinking:

chileno
May 31, 2010, 06:03 PM
O K :thinking:

I was "answering" to post #2

Ambarina
June 01, 2010, 10:24 AM
She just told me it's totally disallowed even for that.. they seem to be grammar nazis in Spain :D
We're nothing of the sort ;)
It's just that there are some people out there that think what's spoken in Spain is right and everything else is wrong. Angelica's examples sound like gibberish to me and if your aunt's Spanish, it probably sounds the same to her. Doesn't mean that it's "wrong" though.