Present Continuous

by Unikoman Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:45 am

Hi there,

I know that for those who live in Portugal this may sound a bit ridiculous but for me it's a bit of a problem.

When I speak with my cousins and other relatives in Portugal I always get corrected because I say "Vou ir" all the time. In English we say "I'm going". I would like to know if there is an equivalent to the present continuous in Portuguese and if saying "vou ir" is really incorrect.

Thank you

Unikoman

by SteelInferno Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:51 pm

Hi there Unikoman,

In truth, you're not far off from the correct translation but this also depends on your use of "I'm going". I will exclude in this case that you're referring to "I'm going to" as in the Future tense.

If you mean "I'm going" as in leaving. You should use "vou indo" or even more commonly in Portuguese, "vou andando". These expressions are formed with the Present tense of the verb IR and its gerund - just like "going" is the gerund of "to go".

I also know this might give way to confusion in foreigner due to the similar values of gerund and infinitive in Portuguese.

Hope to have helped a bit.

by Unikoman Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:13 pm

Hi SteelInferno,

So when I mean something in the future I can't use it.

Because I use to say something like:

Amanhã vou ir com o carro ao mecânico. ... Is this correct?

Thanks

Unikoman

by SteelInferno Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:56 am

No, that's not correct. "Vou" and "Ir" are both forms of the verb "Ir". If you want to express the notion of future you either use the future tense "Irei". Due to the nature of the verb (it is not a static verb) you can use the present simple.

So you either say:

Amanhã irei com o carro ao mecânico

or

Amanhã vou com o carro ao mecânico

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