Timeline for Simple present, or present continuous?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 6, 2020 at 16:29 | comment | added | Greybeard | The examples by the OP should not be assumed to be idiomatic, nor should context be implied. As they stand, neither example is idiomatic. They are not "technically" wrong, and context could be invented to justify them to a degree. I suspect it is highly unlikely that someone asking a question at this level would use the historical present. | |
| Mar 17, 2018 at 23:03 | comment | added | Lambie | There is no reported speech here. You might want to read up on that..... | |
| Mar 28, 2016 at 6:44 | comment | added | deadrat | I'm afraid this answer is wrong. Please consider revising (or deleting it). Today she talks to me by phone is perfectly fine to report past events from the timeframe of those events. It's called the historical present. Without more context, we can't tell the timeframe of Today she is talking to me by phone. It might be another case of the historical present, or the narrator may be reporting what's happening as he talks on the phone. There's also nothing wrong with the present progressive she is working on her novel. The progressive straddles the present time point as reported. | |
| Nov 28, 2015 at 20:30 | comment | added | rivimey | Re: talks/is talking. I'm not a grammarian, so can't put names to it, but I believe the difference is describing how immediate the action is. 'she talks' is a less right-at-this-moment activity then 'she is talking'. She is talking is something that is happening here and now and hasn't stopped. 'Today, she talks' may mean she is talking now, but could equally mean that she has talked and will talk again but happens not to be talking at this moment. | |
| Nov 28, 2015 at 20:26 | comment | added | rivimey | QueenB, not sure what you mean by the gap. In the 'yesterday' sentence, the critical point with including Today is that you are contrasting it with yesterday. While you could omit 'Today' in your sentence and still be 'correct', the addition points to the contrast you're making. | |
| Nov 28, 2015 at 18:10 | comment | added | QueenB | Today, she talks to me / Today, she's talking to me .. how would you explain that the two are correct? | |
| Nov 28, 2015 at 18:05 | comment | added | michael_timofeev | There is nothing wrong with either sentence. | |
| Nov 28, 2015 at 18:03 | comment | added | QueenB | Also, what do we mean when we say: Today, you talk to me like nothing happened yesterday. - why use the present simple tense with today . . . | |
| Nov 28, 2015 at 18:02 | comment | added | QueenB | If this were a multiple choice exam, as a best answer would you choose is talking as the correct answer for the gap (refer to the sentences above). | |
| Nov 28, 2015 at 17:58 | history | answered | rivimey | CC BY-SA 3.0 |