Notes from ¿Qué tal? – English Equivalents for the Present Tense

In both English and Spanish, conjugated verb forms also indicate the time or tense (el tiempo) of the action: I speak (present), I spoke (past).

The present tense forms of Spanish verbs correspond to three English equivalents.

Hablo: I speak (simple present tense); I am speaking (present progressive to indicate an action in progress); I will speak (near future action)

Note that another word or phrase may indicate future time when the present is used to describe near future actions.

Hablo con Juan mañana. I’ll speak with John tomorrow.

Estudiamos por la noche? Shall we study at night?

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