"there is" + present progressive

"there is" + present progressive
 

I was reading about how está/estan is used instead of "hay" when saying that there is/are (something) in a particular place.

Like, if saying "There are red cars" ('Hay coches rojos'?), but if saying "There is someone in my car" ('Está alguien en mi coche'?). Right?

But what if you are saying that "There is (someone) doing (something)."
I know present progressive is conjugated with "estar" + (verb with "ando/iendo").

But what if I was saying "There is a man speaking with my brother."?
Está un hombre está hablando con mi hermano. :?:

The two "está"s in that sentence look awkward.

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I do not think this is correct, unless you think in English the following means the same, although I see there might be a possibility...

Is a man talking with my brother?
is there a man talking with my brother?

Are they the same in English?

Yes, they are the same. But I was asking about a statement rather than a question. "There is a man talking with my brother."

I think poli answered my question; use "hay" in that situation. It looks like you also drop the conjugated form of "estar" in the present progressive?

These are all really close in meaning, and are analogous to the English version.

[Está alguien / Alguien está] en mi coche. = Someone is in my car.
Hay alguien en mi coche. = There is someone in my car.

Hay alguien caminando por el sendero. = There is someone walking down the path.
[Está alguien / Alguien está] caminando por el sendero. = Someone is walking down the path.

[Está un hombre hablando / Un hombre está hablando] con mi hermano. A man is talking with my brother.
Hay un hombre hablando con mi hermano. = There is a man speaking with my brother.

Both will be the same, then in Spanish.

Hay un hombre hablando con mi hermano en este momento?
Esta un hombre hablando con mi hermano en este momento?

Mean the same, said in another way.

But if you drop the "There is" part, it would be;

Un hombre está hablando con mis hermano. "A man is speaking with my brother." ¿Verdad?

Sí.

La diferencia entre "haber" y "estar" en estos ejemplos es muy sutil, pero muy clara si cambio los ejemplos:

"Hay un hombre en mi coche" / "Juanito está en el coche"
"Hay un hombre hablando con mi hermano" / "Pepe está hablando con mi hermano"

Conocemos a Juanito y a Pepe, pero no al "hombre" que está en el coche o hablando con mi hermano.

Me olvidé comentar que Juanito y Pepe son sujetos de la oración (al igual que "alguien" en el caso del sendero). En los otros casos, "hay un hombre", "un hombre" no es sujeto, sino OD (comparad: "hay varios hombres en mi coche" / "Juan y Pepe están en el coche"). El sujeto tiene que concordar con el verbo; en el otro ejemplo, el verbo "haber" es impersonal, no varía.

Good points Irma.

Yes, if only I could speak spanish... :hmm:

Just kidding. I think I understand the difference. Are you saying "Hay" is for when referring to a non-specific person?

A man is in the car. Hay un hombre en el coche.
The man is in the car. Un hombre está en el coche.
¿Verdad?

Oh, if only I could speak English!:)

Well, "a man is in the car" would be translated, literally, as "un hombre está en el coche", but it wouldn't sound correct in Spanish (I'm always referring to the Spanish from Spain, maybe in other countries is different, of course), although grammatically this is correct. We would use the "impersonale" (?) verb "haber": "hay algo/alguien" en algún sitio".

Thanks Tomísimo. I like this forum, I mean: "hay gente muy agradable en este foro" or "hay muchas cosas en este foro", or even "las cosas que hay en este foro me interesan mucho" ("las cosas" is not the subject, but the DO). I wouldn't never say "las cosas que están en este foro", though I could say "la gente que está inscrita en este foro es muy agradable" / "las personas que están inscritas en este foro etc.")