By Expressions, Present continuous

Hello. Sorry to hear you're feeling uncomfortable with this type of activity. But you're not alone: I would be, too!The sentences lack context, which makes it difficult to tell when tense changes are necessary and when they are not (among other things).There is one sentence that is wrong...

I think, in general, "heart of gold" and "golden heart" can be taken to mean the same thing, but "heart of gold" is a somewhat fixed, idiomatic expression meaning someone who is very, very kind. A golden heart sounds like the heart is actually made of gold, and not in the figurative sense. She...

Magda wrote: Yoong Liat wrote: Magda wrote:Why wouldn't I? The difference is obvious. I asked the original question because of what my teacher told us yesterday: certain time expressions (e.g. last week) can go with Past Perfect in a certain context. This, however, clashes with what I know...

Yoong Liat wrote: Magda wrote:Why wouldn't I? The difference is obvious. I asked the original question because of what my teacher told us yesterday: certain time expressions (e.g. last week) can go with Past Perfect in a certain context. This, however, clashes with what I know about this tense,...

CalifJim wrote:Yes. Many different answers are sometimes possible for the same situation. Sometimes, without context as a guide, it is difficult to decide which of the many answers are the most commonly used by native speakers. It seems, however, that you have a good grasp of the usage of...

Paco2004 wrote: Philip wrote:My ear prefers "If you promise to leave tomorrow, I'll tell you the truth now", just because I don't like the future in the if-clause. I've never looked for an authoritative source to back me up....and there may well not be one.Thanks for the reply, Philip. One of...

Eimai_Anglos wrote:It's just a colloquial expression. I recommend not trying to analyse it! It's probably wise for non-natives to avoid expressions like this anyway until they're really sure of themselves. But there's no reason I can see for not analysing colloquial expressions, which...

RE: 1 & 2 -- time expression is not of the essence. This is a large topic, but to start you off: '(Be) going to' -- the speaker has some sort of evidence of the future event, either plans have been made or it is seen as inevitable from an external viewpoint. Present continuous -- previous...