Should + be + -ing

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Anonymous  #368166  Sun, 20 May 07 09:48 PM
There is a conversation between a man and a woman and after a while he says: I should probably be going

Therefore, what's the difference between the above-mentioned expression and "I should probably go" ?

Thank you
  
Clive  #368216  Mon, 21 May 07 12:06 AM

Hi,

There is a conversation between a man and a woman and after a while he says: I should probably be going

Therefore, what's the difference between the above-mentioned expression and "I should probably go" ?

The continuous tense looks at the act of going as a process with duration, with length. What he is saying with it is that 'e should 'begin the act of going'. There is a slight implicationn that he is reluctant to go, reluctant to begin the act of going.

Best wishes, Clive

  
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