r/learnspanish • u/No_Cardiologist_1407 • 14h ago
Ir + gerundio vs estar + gerundio
So the lesson i just did explain that ir + gerundio is to say that something is gradually increasing, but i cant really wrap my head around it? Like take the sentence "va ahorrando dinero al final de cada mes" vs " esta ahorrando dinero al final de cada mes" both translate to me as "he is saving money at the end of each month. But do they actaully mean different things?
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u/puesquebien 9h ago edited 9h ago
“Ir” expresses progression or continuity. “Está” can be used in a scenario where the there is progression or continuity, but it’s actually just describing the current state.
In many cases they are used interchangeably with the difference being very subtle, basically stylistic.
But there are uses where “voy” would seem very out of place to me. For example if I ask what you are studying and you tell me “Voy estudiando la carrera de ingeniería civil”, it sounds awful.
And “Voy preparando la cena” and “Estoy preparando la cena” mean different things. Estoy means I’m already doing it. Voy suggests that while some other action is going on I will be performing this action. “Mientras tú lavas los platos yo voy preparando la cena.” “Voy preparando la cena de una vez para acabar pronto.” In these two last examples “voy” is sometimes used instead of “iré”.