Craig Hall
¿Estoy? What is the difference between "me estoy" and "estoy"? Is me estoy more common and natural sounding? Thanks.
Jan 20, 2017 3:49 AM
Answers · 5
Gracias Jonny.
January 27, 2017
It is not an easy question. I do not know about grammar, but I will answer with common sense. If a verb is transitive and may have as an object the same who is speaking, it may be a reflexive verb. In this case, in Spanish you may add "se" at the end of the verb and it has a meaning: lavar-->lavarse pasear-->pasearse mover-->moverse When there could be doubt about the object on which the action of the verb falls, then, if you speak about yourself, you should use the reflexive, always with the gerund. estoy estudiando: means I am studying... maths, literature, or whatever. me estoy estudiando: means I am studying myself. You can use both forms with some verbs: "estoy riendo" or "me estoy riendo"; "estoy paseando" and "me estoy paseando". In this last case, it is clear that you are speaking of yourself. But you could say "estoy paseando el perro". I do not know if this is what you are asking, but when both forms are right, in my opinion, "me estoy" sounds more natural in most cases, but I speak for myself. One more observation; with "estoy" you can use an adjective. For example, "estoy cansado" is right, but you do not say "me estoy cansado". Naturally we, Spanish speaking people, speak without thinking of all these things. Simply it sounds right or wrong. Hope it helps.
January 21, 2017
Hola Esteban. The grammar structure "pronoun: me / te / se / nos / os / se + verb: estar + gerund" it expresses an action in progress, which you can receive the action of the verb (reflexive), to feel a change of mood or to express a feeling. Me estoy peinando / Estoy peinándome (Reflexive action) Me estoy enfadando con mi jefe / Estoy enfadándome con mi jefe. (Change of mood)) Nos estamos divirtiendo en la fiesta / Estamos divirtiéndonos en la fiesta.(Express a feeling) Saludos.
January 20, 2017
"me" in this case is most likely reflexive. "me estoy" itself doesn't have any meaning, you would need to add a reflexive verb, like bañarse or lavarse. por ejemplo, "me estoy bañando (or estoy bañándome; its the same meaning) I would look into reflexive verbs to give you a clearer idea, but pretty much what the other guy said; the "me" here implies that you're doing the action to yourself. Although english also uses reflexive verbs, the spanish language uses them much more frequently.
January 20, 2017
Me estoy implies something that's happening to you, could be good or not. Estoy refers to something you are doing, an activity you are performing.
January 20, 2017
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