focusing or focused

[dut_thinker]

Hi teachers

For the following two sentences, I don't know which one is right? Could you please give me some hints?
(1) My research is focusing on ....
(2) My research is focused on ....

I perfer the first one. But in this forum certain post said that "In Spain, English courses are normally focused on reading and writing". So I am totally confused.

Thanks in advance.

[crazYgeeK]

Hi teachers

For the following two sentences, I don't know which one is right? Could you please give me some hints?
(1) My research is focusing on ....
(2) My research is focused on ....

I perfer the first one. But in this forum certain post said that "In Spain, English courses are normally focused on reading and writing". So I am totally confused.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure if your use of the present continuous tense in the first sentence is correct (I would use simple tense like as 'My research focuses on ...'), but anyhow 'focus' in the first one is intransitive while 'focus' in the second one is transitive (in passive form). I think both are fine but have a little different meaning.

I hope to see the comments from the teachers.
JUST A LITTLE STUDENT.

[SoothingDave]

The first one describes the focusing as an ongoing action - not yet completed. The second describes a completed action.

So, does your research have a focus or is it still in the process of focusing?

[dut_thinker]

I'm not sure if your use of the present continuous tense in the first sentence is correct (I would use simple tense like as 'My research focuses on ...'), but anyhow 'focus' in the first one is intransitive while 'focus' in the second one is transitive (in passive form). I think both are fine but have a little different meaning.

I hope to see the comments from the teachers.
JUST A LITTLE STUDENT.

Thank you for your reply, crazYgeeK.

[dut_thinker]

The first one describes the focusing as an ongoing action - not yet completed. The second describes a completed action.

So, does your research have a focus or is it still in the process of focusing?

Thank you for your reply, SoothingDave.
There is something which is not yet clear.

If we just want the sentences grammatically correct without considering their meanings, are the following two sentences acceptable?
(1) My research focuses on ....
(2)My research focused on....

[SoothingDave]

Both are grammatically OK.

[dut_thinker]

Both are grammatically OK.

Thank you so much.

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for your reply, SoothingDave.
There is something which is not yet clear.

If we just want the sentences grammatically correct without considering their meanings, are the following two sentences acceptable?
(1) My research focuses on ....
(2)My research focused on....

Those two are both OK, as is "My research is focused on ..."

[dut_thinker]

Those two are both OK, as is "My research is focused on ..."

Thank you for your reply.

According to all your replies, all the
(1) My research is focusing on...
(2)My research is focused on...
(3)My research focuses on...
(4)My research focused on..

are grammatically correct.
No. 1 and no. 3 are talking about the ongoing research while no. 2 and no. 4 are related to completed research.

[SoothingDave]

Thank you for your reply.

According to all your replies, all the
(1) My research is focusing on...
(2)My research is focused on...
(3)My research focuses on...
(4)My research focused on..

are grammatically correct.
No. 1 and no. 3 are talking about the ongoing research while no. 2 and no. 4 are related to completed research.

No. #4 is about completed research. #2 is about research that is ongoing, but the focus has been completed. If the research was complete, you would say "My research was focused on..."