Verb forms in the examples.

Question

Hi. Elsa eats and I buy.. Shouldn't you rather use the progressive form in the translations, Elsa is eating and I am buying, as the simple present denotes habitual or repeated actions, as if Elsa were eating them every day and I buying new sheets daily ?

Pekka J

Helsinki

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Pekka,
Thank you for your question.
Indeed, you could have both. It would depend on what you are trying to convey specifically.
‘être en train de’ + infinitive is used to express an action in the process.
Qu’est-ce que tu es en train de faire ? = What are you doing?
'Le Présent de L'Indicatif' is  used in a lot of different ways: to make a general statement and to describe an ongoing action ; to express a close future ; to express habitual action ; to describe a past action closely connected to the present ; to express historical fact ; to describe past events more dramatically ; to express an action in the process.
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée!