Search results for 'tag:Present progressive tag:Present tenses' matching tags 'Present progressive' and 'Present tenses'

Re: subject of subordinate clause

Avangi — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:03:44 GMT

#1 John who took my pen is here.

#2 John who is wearing my jacket is here.

How firm a grasp would you like to obtain? (I know I shouldn't have written that, but I couldn't resist.)

The thing that works for me is to take out the the subject and the "verb" and see if it still makes sense. (That may even be the "rule.")

The reason it works in #2 and not in #1 is the difference in tenses and in verb forms. In "who took my pen" vs "who is wearing my jacket" "who" is the subject in each case, so that's not the difference. (If you took out "who," what would you propose for the subject? Without a subject you have no clause. You might think to claim "John" as the subject, but it can't be the subject of both clauses. You could use a compound predicate: "John is wearing my jacket and is here." )

Notice that in #2 both clauses are present tense. The verb is actually "is wearing," present progressive of "to wear." So you don't actually take out the verb - only the helping verb "is," which leaves you with the present participle, "wearing." You now have a participial phrase, "wearing my jacket," which is just fine. He's wearing it now and he's here now.

In #1, there's no helping verb to take out. You could take out the "who," leaving you with a compound predicate, but you'd need to add a conjunction. "John took my pen and is here." (The two different tenses work, but "is here" is no longer the dominant idea.)

If the original were, "John, who is taking my pulse, is Russian," then it works like #2. "John, taking my pulse, is Russian."

If you use two different tenses, as in the original #1, you'd have, "John, who was taking my pulse, is Russian." That leads to, "John, taking my pulse, is Russian." What happened to your past tense?

So try it, and ask yourself if the meaning is still the same.

Best wishes, - A.

Re: contemplating throwing

Hoa Thai — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 06:32:44 GMT

Anewcomer wrote:
Hi Teachers I came across this sentence in a story book: He had stood upon his balcony and contemplated throwing himself down to the street. Why it's not like this: He had stood upon his balcony and contemplated to throw himself down to the street And what is the difference? And can i say: "continuing saying things" or "continue saying things" or "continue to say things", and what's the difference Thanks

Hi,

The verb contemplate belongs to a group of verbs such as admit, avoid, deny, enjoy, and many more that are followed by a noun or gerund but not an infinitive.

The verb continue, however, may be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive.

We use the present progressive to send a message of âin middle of doing somethingâ (i.e., the action itself). The present tense simply shows the state.

Re: I regret saying that I hate/hated you.

Avangi — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 01:06:58 GMT

Angliholic wrote:
I regret saying that I hate you.
I regret saying that I hated you.

I regret to say that I hate you.

I regret to say that I hated you.

Which of the above four versions sound right to you? Which ones are identical in meaning? Thanks.

Hi Angliholic,

I regret to say I'd probably use only the first one. There's no reason to put "hate" in the past tense, unless there's some contextual evidence that I had stopped hating you at the time I said it. It's quite messy, because there's the time of the hating, the time of the saying, and the time of the regretting.

The main verb regret is simple present tense in all four examples. If you said, "I enjoy saying that I hate you," it would be much easier. It would have the flavor of present progressive simply because of the context - like, "I'm enjoying saying that I hate you." "I enjoy saying that I hated you," would have a very clear meaning.

Pucca is probably right about "saying" vs "to say." I personally would use the present participle with the verb (I regret saying) and save the infinitive for the adjective (I'm sorry to say.) But I know people say, "I regret to say that I hated you," meaning, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I used to hate you," as Pucca suggests.

- A.

Re: "Play" or "playing"; "wear" or "wearing"

MarvinTheMartian — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:53:12 GMT

Thank you, Mister Micawber! I thought as much. Indeed, it does sound more natural to use the present progressive in these sentences. However, from a logical standpoint, I still donât understand why it would be improper to use the simple present tense. After all, in both cases, âto playâ and âto wearâ are what you could call ârepeated actionsâ.

P.S.: âDavid Copperfieldâ is a favorite of mine too. I have the novel and the old film version starring W.C. Fields as Mr. Micawber. Great stuff!

How many tenses are there in English language?

Jackson6612 — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:03:33 GMT

I was told that there are twelve tenses in English:

1: Simple Present Tense

2: Present Perfect Tense

3: Present Progressive Tense

4: Present Perfect Progressive Tense

5: Simple Past Tense

6: Past Perfect Tense

7: Past Progressive Tense

8: Past Perfect Progressive Tense

9: Simple Future Tense

10: Future Perfect Tense

11: Future Progressive Tense

12: Future Perfect Progressive Tense

But I read somewhere that total number of tenses in English is six or seven. Is this true?

Re: choice of tense

CalifJim — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:15:34 GMT

The present tenses (present (simple) and present progressive) can express future time in English, not just the will form. The idiom going to also expresses future time.

She [plays / is playing / will play / is going to play] on Saturday.

All can be used for future time.

If the main clause is in the future or the imperative, a secondary clause of time (by the time, as soon as, ...) is in the present or present perfect. If the present is used, we're looking at it from a forward point of view, from now until that future point in time. It has the sense of waiting. If the present perfect is used, we're looking at it from a backward point of view. From that future point in time, it will already have happened.

The present perfect seems to me to be used more in cases of completion of a task or a trajectory (finish, arrive). It is also less used in general than the simple present in that context.

Don't forget to give me your phone number before you [go / ?have gone]. (not completion of a task)
Don't you dare leave the house before you [do / have done] your homework. (completion of a task)
When you [see / ?have seen] me, you will recognize me. (not completion of a task)
I'll let you know once I [confirm / have confirmed] the reservations. (completion of a task)
When you [know / *have known] the answer, please tell me, too. (not completion of a task)
When he [fixes / has fixed] the television, I'll pay him, and not a minute sooner. (completion of a task)

CJ

Re: subtle differences

Believer — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 21:41:46 GMT

Thank you.

So is it your educated opinion that when whenver we see a sentence is in the present tense, then we are seeing a sentence that is showing the attribute aspect and the whenver we see a sentence in the present progressive tense, then we are seeing a sentence exhibiting the progressive aspect?

Also, with all due respect, I have a little reservation about the word "audibly" in the sentence "Don't talk audibly." I think that sentence conveys the notion that says "Don't make any audible sound."

Re: a simple grammar problem....

Peano — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 19:14:05 GMT

>"my dad said he is going to work tomorrow" or "my dad said he was going to work tomorrow."

I don't agree that was is correct. The past tense said in this sentence refers to the time the man spoke. The present progressive is going is used in the sense of the future tense and refers to the time the intended action will be performed.

Consider it this way: To express his intention of going to work tomorrow, he would not say I was going to work tomorrow. He would say I am going to work tomorrow.

In accurately reporting what was said, you must preserve the future sense of am going: My dad said he is going to work ....

See Garner: "When a subordinate clause states an ongoing or general truth, it should be in the present tense regardless of the tense in the principal clause -- thus He said yesterday that he is Jewish, not He said yesterday that he was Jewish.

Re: Present Perfect vs. Present Simple, once again

paco2004 — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:57:45 GMT

Hello Astraea

I too am a learner of English, but let me answer to your question.

Are you asking if the sentences like below are correct?
       I write a letter now.
       I just finish my assignment.
No, both are incorrect. ~~Do you ask why?~~ Are you asking why? It's because "write" and "finish" are dynamic verbs. You can say "I live now in Zagreb", because "live" is a stative verb. But in the case when the verb is dynamic, the simple present tense can be used only when you talk about some habitual activity. For example,
        I write a letter to my mother once a week.
        Every week I finish my assignment before Friday night.
If you want to say some one-time event using a dynamic verb, you have to say it in [1] the past tense, [2] the present perfect tense, [3] the present progressive tense, [4] or the future tense.
        [1] I wrote a letter to my mother yesterday.
        [2] I have written a letter to my mother now.
        [3] I am now writing a letter to my mother.
        [4] I will write a letter to my mother tomorrow.

paco

Re: usage of present continous tense

Crux_online — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:32:45 GMT

Anonymous wrote:
What is the differnce between the following sentense apart from the tense,I know first one is present continous and another one is present tense,

What situation we need to use these kind of sentense,Are both giving same meaining?

Do you see any difference between these?

1.They are applying in online.

1.They apply in online

The first one indicates that they are now or are currently or are for the time being applying online.
The second one indicates that they generally apply online whenever they apply.

Anonymous wrote:
2.WE maintain

2,We are maitaining

Same here -- the use of the present continuous (or present progressive) tense tells us that we are currently maintaining something.

"My accountant maintains my financial records, but while he is on vacation for 6 months my attorney is maintaining them."

The same sorts of meanings can be applied to the other examples as well.

Depending on your native language you likely have ways of making such small distinction. What is your native language? (I know it's a dangerous assumption that you're not a native speaker)

C