All Questions
Tagged with present-tense progressive-aspect
33 questions
2
votes
1
answer
288
views
Are both forms possible? Present perfect vs progressive
I'd like to know if both sentences could be possible.
We've gone / We've been going to the same dentist since we were children.
You've worn / You've been wearing that coat for years.
Thank you in ...
- 23
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
present perfect progressive with stop/start
A student asked me: Can I say 'I have been stopping this project / I have been starting this project' to express repeated action (with present perf. prog)? My answer was 'no', but I am having a hard ...
- 21
5
votes
2
answers
49k
views
Headed or heading?
This is more of a claim than a question. I claim that a construction like "I am headed home (which you will hear a lot in America) is wrong. The present progressive must utilize the ing-form. Try ...
5
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Why does English use the present continuous so often?
Why is the present continuous used in English so often in comparison to the simple present?
For example
I eat
is possible, but the preferred way
I am eating
meaning roughly the same thing, is ...
- 101
1
vote
2
answers
8k
views
"Look! The sun rises" vs. "Look! The sun is rising"
I know that theoretically you can use both statements in English:
a) Look! The sun rises.
b) Look! The sun is rising.
But is anybody (who is a native speaker) saying "Look! The sun rises."?
In ...
- 321
0
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Ally (has) cc'd me [closed]
Suppose Ally sent an email to Bob to let him know the due date for submission of the document Bob is working on. Ally cc'd me in the email so I learned about the due date as well. Bob, in all ...
- 171
-1
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why are "Verbs of bodily sensation (e.g. feel, hurt, ache) used in simple or progressive tenses
Verbs that refer to physical feelings (e.g. feel, hurt, ache) can often be used in simple or progressive tenses without much difference in meaning.
How do you feel? or How are you feeling?
...
- 485
2
votes
2
answers
234
views
Does "Who sings it?" express the habitual present or the present of immediacy?
Does sings as used in the quoted part refer to the habitual present tense or to the present tense of immediacy?
I like this song. Who sings it?
Suppose I were listening to a song and asked the ...
- 485
0
votes
0
answers
43
views
Simple Present, Simple Past or Past perfect progressive? [duplicate]
Suppose if there's a web site which was out of service yesterday. And it's still down today. Which sentence below should I tell the web master?
The web site is down/(out of service) since yesterday.
...
- 153
-1
votes
1
answer
136
views
Can you please explain differences in following phrases: [duplicate]
Can you please explain differences in following phrases:
I am thinking
I thinking
I think
I have been thinking
- 103
0
votes
1
answer
766
views
What is the historic present tense?
I learned that the historical present may be used to create an effect of immediacy in narratives. I have a question about the historic present tense. Why don't we use the progressive tense instead of ...
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
828
views
Past Simple vs. Past Progressive
I've been noticing in conversations that people often use past or present or future progressive where I would normally use past, present or future simple.
I know some rules about interrupted actions ...
- 141
1
vote
2
answers
25k
views
"Every day" and present continuous vs simple present [duplicate]
Every day I'm eating vegetables.
I eat vegetables every day.
Can someone explain if there's a nuance in meaning of the two? If there's a better situation to use one than the other? (doesn't have to ...
- 83
5
votes
1
answer
569
views
Present continous and present simple
Why do we say, "Who is that man? What does he want", but, "Who is that man? Why is he looking at us". If the second is okay, which I am sure it is, why can't we say, "Who is that man? What is he ...
- 73
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
The use of the Present Simple within a short period of time
Help me understand how idiomatic this usage of the Present Simple is. Usually, PS conveys repeated actions within relatively long (or almost unlimited) time frames. For instance, “The sun rises in the ...
- 1,040
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
"The key doesn't work" vs. "The key is not working" [closed]
Here's a situation. You go to your hotel room and the key that you have is not working. When you go back to the reception, should you say:
The key is not working, can you fix it.
Or
The key ...
- 11
1
vote
4
answers
21k
views
"I teach" vs. "I'm teaching" — which one is proper in this situation?
Following situation occurs/ed. I meet a friend for a coffee. We chat and I ask him what he's doing for work now.
His answer: "I'm teaching English."
This irks me. Because in that situation he's not ...
- 168
-1
votes
0
answers
194
views
One of the underlined words is wrong. Choose either A, B, C or D [duplicate]
"What (are:A) you talking (about:B)? (I'm:C) not (understand:D) you."
At first, I thought C, so the sentence would be "What are you talking about? I don't understand you." And I chose C because I ...
- 59
5
votes
5
answers
91k
views
"I don't understand you" vs. "I'm not understanding you" [closed]
Which sentence is correct?
What are you talking about? I don't understand you.
or
What are you talking about? I'm not understanding you.
- 59
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Present simple or present continuous?
Here is an exercise from Intermediate Language Practice by Michael Vince:
Complete the following sentence with a present simple or present
continuous form of the words in bold.
Pat has ...
- 253
1
vote
2
answers
7k
views
Difference between "have had" and "having"
What is the difference between the following two sentences?
I have had a headache since this morning.
I am having a headache since this morning.
- 171
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Can we use past perfect progressive in the context where present tense is predominantly used?
As I understand, past perfect is used to express an action that had happened before something else in the past. But in the paragraph I came across, there appeared past perfect progressive in the ...
- 1
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Present perfect continuous
How are we to understand whether present perfect progressive implies that the action is still in progress, versus implying it has stopped just now or recently?
In simple sentences like these two,
•...
- 1,320
0
votes
2
answers
2k
views
"I stay in Canada" vs. "I will stay in Canada" [duplicate]
Situation: I am in Canada and will go back to Hong Kong next week. So, I want to tell my friends that "I will stay in Canada until the 6th of March".
Question: I do not know if the word will should ...
- 187
-1
votes
2
answers
804
views
Present Simple or Present Continuous [closed]
I have to write an email to inform other people about some error that occurred.
I want to write:
It is returning "value 1" instead of "value 2" when I select something which is causing the error.
...
- 967
5
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Present simple on temporary action
Mary is sleeping in the living room while we redecorate her room.
Why is the present simple "redecorate" used? Present simple is used when there's something permanent, but they don't want to ...
- 187
-2
votes
2
answers
227
views
Using verb continuous for living abroad for a period of time [closed]
Suppose that a friend of mine is Thai and he usually lives in Thailand. Now he is in Australia and he is going to live in Australia for only a few years.
Should I say “A friend of mine is living in ...
- 2,644
4
votes
4
answers
53k
views
"By clicking submit you agree..." or "By clicking submit you are agreeing..." [closed]
By clicking submit you agree to the Terms and Conditions.
By clicking submit you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions.
Which is correct? Why?
- 51
4
votes
3
answers
46k
views
"I am going to bed" vs. "I will be going to bed" [duplicate]
What is the difference between saying the following?
I am going to bed in a few minutes.
I will be going to bed in a few minutes.
Or
I will be getting off here. Or, I guess, I will be getting off ...
- 13.6k
19
votes
2
answers
119k
views
"The train will leave" vs. "is going to leave" vs. "leaves" vs. "is leaving"
From the grammatical point of view all are correct, just the meaning are different, please bring your clarification, thank you.
The Train will leave at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
The Train is ...
- 741
3
votes
1
answer
4k
views
"Is someone covering/going to cover this event?"
Which one of the following is better or more correct?
Is someone covering this event?
Is someone going to cover this event?
- 33
5
votes
3
answers
60k
views
What's the difference between "I want" and "I am wanting"?
What is the difference between the two?
Why and where is the latter very strange sounding variant used?
- 161
0
votes
1
answer
128
views
"They develop skills at this age" vs. "they are developing skills at this age"
Which one is correct? If both are correct, are there any differences in meaning?
For children, the age of 3 is very
critical time, because they develop
their language skills rapidly at this
age.
For ...
- 1,277