Present tense v present progressive

Marion A.A1Kwiziq community member

Present tense v present progressive

Hola, I'd like to know if these two tenses are interchangeable eg ella mueve las cajas a otro lugar. Is it equally correct to translate this as either 'she moves the boxes somewhere else' or 'she's moving the boxes somewhere else'?

I realise that other people have asked a similar question but I didn't find the responses very clear so I'm still uncertain. Thank you

Asked 4 days ago
Marcos R.A1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Both are correct depending on the context.  

If you translate to, “She moves the boxes somewhere else.” then you are thinking of a repeated action, for example, if it was part of her job. “Every weekend, she moves the boxes somewhere else.”  

If you translate to, “She is moving the boxes somewhere else.” then you are talking about the action in the moment.  

Unlike English, the Spanish present tense can refer to either one of these contexts.

Marion A. asked:

Present tense v present progressive

Hola, I'd like to know if these two tenses are interchangeable eg ella mueve las cajas a otro lugar. Is it equally correct to translate this as either 'she moves the boxes somewhere else' or 'she's moving the boxes somewhere else'?

I realise that other people have asked a similar question but I didn't find the responses very clear so I'm still uncertain. Thank you

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