Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

Talking about permanent and habitual actions 71.671.5.2Present tenseWith verbs denoting actions which can have duration, like ‘speak’, ‘sleep’, ‘play’, etc.,actions in progress at the moment of speaking can be expressed with the present tense.The present tense of hacer is often used to refer to such actions.¿Qué haces?What are you doing?No hagáis ruido, que el niño duerme.Don’t make noise, the child is sleeping.¿En qué piensas?What are you thinking of?In these examples, the construction with estar + gerund and the one with the presenttense are interchangeable. Compare the previous sentences with these:¿Qué estás haciendo?What are you doing?No hagáis ruido, que el niño está durmiendo.Don’t make noise, the child is sleeping.¿En qué estás pensando?What are you thinking of?By and large, the tendency is to use the construction with estar + gerund for actions inprogress, as this is more specific. With the present tense, only the context makes it clearthat we are referring to an action in progress. This ambiguity does not arise with theconstruction with estar, which actually stresses the continuity of the action.Estar + gerund is also used in preference to the present when we want to emphasizesome kind of change in the action in relation with the past or the fact that the actionis somewhat unexpected. In the first case, a time expression such as ahora ‘now’,actualmente ‘at present’, usually accompanies this construction.Vivía en Madrid, pero ahora estoy viviendo en Zaragoza.I used to live in Madrid, but now I’m living in Zaragoza.Es profesora, pero está trabajando de camarera.She’s a teacher, but she’s working as a waitress.71.6Talking about permanent and habitual actions401To ask and give information about a permanent state of affairs, Spanish, like English,uses the present tense.¿Dónde vives?Where do you live?Vivo en Granada.I live in Granada.¿A qué te dedicas?What do you do for a living?