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In:Multilingual Corpus Research: Advances and challenges
Edited by Noelia Ramón and María Pérez Blanco
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 126] 2026
► pp. 274–295

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Chapter 11
be/estar + gerund

Mutual correspondence and cross-linguistic distribution

 | University of León
Published online: 20 February 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.126.11rab
Abstract
This paper investigates whether be/estar + gerund have equivalent distributions and whether translated data can clarify their cross-linguistic relationship. Using the bidirectional parallel corpus P-ACTRES 2.0, the study applies mutual correspondence (MC) and reverse mutual correspondence (rMC) values. Results show that with an MC of 23.3% and an rMC of 33.05%, be/estar + gerund are formal correspondents but not equivalents. English predominantly uses be + gerund, while Spanish prefers non-progressive tenses (74.4%) and alternative constructions. Translated data reinforce the marked English vs. unmarked Spanish tense trend and provide insights into the preferred encoding of the progressive in both languages. These findings could be utilised in post-processing following the training of an artificial model to enhance the quality of machine-produced texts.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.be/estar + gerund as aspect markers
    • 2.1English be + gerund
    • 2.2Spanish estar + gerund
  • 3.Data and method
  • 4.The study
    • 4.1Mutual correspondence
    • 4.2Meaning(s) and cross-linguistic meaning-form mapping
    • 4.3Reverse mutual correspondence
    • 4.4Discussion and limitations of the study
  • 5.Conclusions and future directions
  • Notes
  • References
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