Vocaboly.com

[Neko]

All three are direct translations of the English phrase 'I am
writing'. The productive rules giving rise to these idioms are in
everyday use in both Dutch and Spanish. For example, see:
http://tinyurl.com/543q5 (photo taken on Queen's Day in Amsterdam last
year).

Giles.[/quote]



there is no real present progressive in dutch. they, just like the germans use the simple present or futur 1 to express something that is happening, or will happen in the future.

[Cymraes]

Paul asked for an example of the present progressive in a non-European language . I can supply you with an example from a European , but non Indo-European language . In Basque one says :

etortzen naiz : I come
ikusten dut : I see

etortzen ari naiz : I am coming
ikusten ari naiz : I am seeing .

As you can see , the Basques have a present progressive for the verb 'see' , which they use all the time . We seldom use the present progressive of this verb in English . Does this stop monoglot Anglophones from seeing ? I sometimes wonder .

Someone above made a fool of himself when he referred to the Welsh language as 'only' having the 'yn chwarae' form . This is nonsense . When necessary , we use 'arfer' to underline the habitual present . 'Arfer' is not an adverb ; it is a verb . Beware of cultural / linguistic blinkers , based on what YOU see as language representing thought . You'll be telling me that the Welsh have no word for 'vacant' next . Or that the Polynesians have no future tense . And what if a Spaniard told you that you 'only' have one verb for 'ser' and 'estar' in English ?

Cymraes .