Present OR Past?

[kahhong]

Hi there,

what Are the differences between those two sentences?/

1-1what chapter are you studying?
2-2what chapter do you study?


Thank!


Warmest Regards,


-kahhong

[forum_mail]

Well, I would say that there's little difference... however in "What chapter are you studying?" the emphasis is on "now; at the moment;" - probably at the moment of asking the question.

"What chapter do you study?" is more general and may refer to not specified time, as if the act of studying takes place "all the time", not necessairly in this very moment but in general; a person who studies, probably did it 3 days ago, does it today and will do it for some time in the future,

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Best wishes,

[forum_mail]

Well, I would say that there's little difference... however in "What chapter are you studying?" the emphasis is on "now; at the moment;" - probably at the moment of asking the question.

"What chapter do you study?" is more general and may refer to not specified time, as if the act of studying takes place "all the time", not necessairly in this very moment but in general; a person who studies, probably did it 3 days ago, does it today and will do it for some time in the future,

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Best wishes,

[rewboss]

Originally Posted by forum_mail

"What chapter do you study?" is more general and may refer to not specified time, as if the act of studying takes place "all the time", not necessairly in this very moment but in general; a person who studies, probably did it 3 days ago, does it today and will do it for some time in the future,

Unless the person studies the chapter for most of his life, the present continuous is more appropriate here. It does normally refer to actions that are going on at this exact moment, but can refer to actions that, although they are not taking place at this exact moment, are only temporary.

For example, I work as a translator. That is my job (well, one of them), that is what I do generally. I am currently working on a technical manual for a hydrocarbon detector. I'm not working on it right at this moment (I am writing a post to an internet forum), and this project has taken me a few months, but it's still only temporary, in contrast to my job which is, for the forseeable future, permanent until I retire or something unexpected happens. I work as a translator, but I am working on this manual.

Some people may make a lifelong career out of studying, say, 17th century literature. But I don't think anyone would make a lifelong career out of studying the third chapter of one single book.

[kahhong]

Thank you , forum_mail and rewboss..
your reply i appriciate much...
so that mean before we construct a question, we must think Does it repeated action or continuous action.. only then we choose whether use present tense or continous tense.. for an example, "what chapter do you study" and "what chapter are you studying?" am i right?
How about this one? "do you free" and "are you free"?
"how do you feel?" and "how are you feeling?"
by using do it refer to true in general or repeated action
thank you,
Warmest Regards,
-kahhong