Confused about multiple uses of the present tense

Marcos R.A2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Confused about multiple uses of the present tense

Hello,  

There have been a number of questions in different topic areas along the lines of “Why don’t we use the present progressive tense for such and such an example in Spanish when the English translation is in the present progressive tense?”  An example might be “Compro unas playeras” being translated as “I am buying some t-shirts”.  

The answer is usually along the lines of, the Spanish present tense can often be translated as the present progressive tense in English. 

 So why are the present tense answers being marked wrong here?  Also, maybe this idea could be added to the above lesson.

Asked 5 hours ago
Marcos R. asked:

Confused about multiple uses of the present tense

Hello,  

There have been a number of questions in different topic areas along the lines of “Why don’t we use the present progressive tense for such and such an example in Spanish when the English translation is in the present progressive tense?”  An example might be “Compro unas playeras” being translated as “I am buying some t-shirts”.  

The answer is usually along the lines of, the Spanish present tense can often be translated as the present progressive tense in English. 

 So why are the present tense answers being marked wrong here?  Also, maybe this idea could be added to the above lesson.

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