"I'm buying six altogether."
Translation:我一共买六个。
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I lived in China for 6 years. They commonly put yi gong both at the very beginning and at the end of the sentence. At the end, it finalizes the statement.
Although you might be right in some contexts, I think perhaps you’re adding specificity that the original sentence doesn’t require. Chinese prefers simpler to more complex. So perhaps it’s a good exercise in reducing and focusing only on the essence of the sentence. Complete but concise. This is just a thought, not a definitive answer. You’d need a native speaker for that.
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I think that would only work if you were actively in the process of making the purchase when you said it. Like, you're at the cash register getting the things scanned and you turn to someone and say "I'm buying six altogether".
As a Chinese student, there is a specific order to which a sentence in Chinese is put. Subject + Time + Verb + Object is one way to put it, I suggest you check out this website. https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/2013/10/30/chinese-sentence-structure/
You use 在 (before the verb) to indicate a continuous action. Buying as opposed to buy or bought or will buy. 在买 = In the process of buying.
Technically it could be in the past or the future too but you are in the middle of doing it. e.g. 我昨天在买东西的时候。。。= when I was buying things yesterday...
So it’s best not to think of it as a tense. Think of 在 as indicating continuous action and 了 as indicating completed action.