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

I study/am studying English

paco2004 — Sun, 15 May 2005 09:27:27 GMT

Hello Teachers

I have a question. The question is: why "I am now studying English in school" is more natural than "I study now English in school" ?

This question came originally from a Japanese guy (probably an English teacher) whom I had an online talk with on the usage of the verb "study". I told him that sentences like "I study English everyday" or "Most of the Japanese kids study English in school" are natural, but "I study now English in school" is not. And I added we have to say rather "I am now studying English in school". Then he asked me the question above.

I believe this question is of beginner's levels, but I myself could not find a persuasive answer to it. What I told him as the reason was only that English speakers take a personal activity of studying a language as a short-term event that will eventually ends, and it is a rule of English that they use a present progressive construct rather than a simple present construct for such short-term events. But he seems not to have got satisfied with this answer. So could you give me any better answer?

paco

Re: Exercise on future 2

MrPedantic — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 23:22:26 GMT

Hello again Hela

Would you please explain to me your use of the future progressive in the 3 cases here?

Well...this falls firmly within the category of 'post facto rationalization', but:

It seems to me that the future progressive is used for events whose precise time we do not know, or do not care to express, e.g.

1. 'Thank you very much for coming to the interview, Ms Hela. We'll be contacting all the candidates next week...' [Deliberately vague.]

2. 'Uncle Frank will be arriving some time next week, so we'd better tidy up the spare room.' [Uncle Frank still hasn't told us when he's arriving.]

3. 'Will you be wanting anything else?' [Someone in a 'service industry' to a customer: vagueness = deference.]

It also seems to be used for events where we do know the precise time, but which have a continuous connection with the present:

4. 'We'll be opening our new office in Roissy-en-Brie next year.' [Preparations are already being made.]

5. 'Fine, I'll see you in Starbucks in 10 minutes. I'll be sitting upstairs as usual.' [They're both on their way.]

Compare:

1a. 'Thank you very much for coming to the interview, Ms Hela. We'll contact you next week.' [Startlingly direct â you've got the job.]

2a. 'Uncle Frank will arrive some time next week, so we'd better tidy up the spare room.' [A slight air of firmness: there is no doubt that the spare room is about to be tidied.]

3a. 'Do you want anything else?' [Someone in a 'service industry' to a customer: directness = rudeness.]

4a. 'We will open our new office in Roissy-en-Brie next year.' [And that's final. No argument.]

5a. 'Till Friday, then, my friend...We shall meet at our little cafÃ©, in the Place de la VendÃ´me, just as we used to do...And I shall sit in the window, in my usual place...' [Elderly, rather over-powdered lady, on the phone to her old admirer. She often says 'whom', has a Pekingese, and is probably played by Audrey Hepburn.]

That said, sometimes (as in some of these examples) a simple present or present progressive works too. So I'd be interested in any second opinions.

See you,
MrP

Re: Wish/hope/others

miriam — Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:47:51 GMT

Hello, Pastel
I agree with you that we shouldn't buy just anything we see/hear. I prefer books in general, but I use search engines on occasion (not when it comes to grammar, though, unless I find something written by an author I've heard of and whom I can be sure is good).
But I can't say I fully agree with your comment about native speakers. I understand that you would expect a native speaker of any langage to have a good command of their mother tongue but, unfortunately, that isn't always the case. Sometimes, it's more than just a person's inability to provide a grammar rule; you will find people who can't use their own language correctly or even appropriately. It happens in my country too, with my first language. You sometimes hear teachers -of any subject- who speak badly and spell even worse.
Which brings me to something you said in your post:
"Being a ESL/EFL teacher, I have to be nit-picky at learning your language."

English is not my first language, Pastel! Spanish is; I'm Argentinian, and I am, like you, an ESL/EFL teacher... which means I have problems with English as well, sometimes.

Also, I understand what you said about your students asking questions whose answers you may not know. About 18 years ago, I used to worry about that too. But there is no way I could possibly know everything so, eventually, I stopped worrying. Today, if I'm asked a question I can't answer, I simply say "I don't know", and I promise my students to find out for next class. Sometimes I ask them to do research and try to find the answer themselves (I do my own research too, though, every time I cannot answer a question).
So you're not my student here, we're both teachers and students at the same time.

And don't tell me you're sorry, because I don't believe you are!! You enjoy giving me a headache every now and then. ~laughs~

Now, about "hope", both sentences are correct. I know that hope is used in progressive tenses sometimes (at least in the present progressive and the past progressive).
But I'm not sure about the difference in meaning, if any. Perhaps when you use a progressive tense you sound more "confident" that what you hope for will happen? This is just a wild guess.

I looked up "hope" in a dictionary for students and I found examples in the present and the present progressive with the same meaning.

Sorry I cannot be very helpful here.

Miriam