
Dear Carl,
I am afraid I can't express myself clearly.
The way I was taught was this:
1. join:
He join the army last year. (correct)
He has joined the army. (correct)
He has been joining the army (incorrect) for two years. This has to be expressed the following way:
He has been in the army for two years.
2. Do you see anyone over there? (correct)
Are you seeing anyone over there(incorrect)
Are you seeing someone off (correct)
Here the meanings of 'see' are different.
3. He is looking well today (incorrect).
What you are looking at ? (correct)
jump, arrive, die belong to words that can't be used in progressive. But they are exceptions. That means they can be used in progreesive to indicate repetition and near future.
I don't know if I have explained it clearly.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.
[quote=Hi_there_Carl;228453]
Quote:
Originally Posted by jiang Dear Carl,
Thank you very much for your explanation.
No.2
I was taught words that suggest 'action' that lasts only a second can't be used to describe an action in progree. I guess your examples do not belong to this type of verbs. Could you please kindly give me examples of them?
Jiang,
I am not sure I understand your question but most actions that I am aware of can last a second or be continuous for example: Lasts a second: ........ Continuous: I will jump..................I am jumping. I had a thought. ........I am thinking. I will wink at you. ......I am winking at you.
So it depends on what you want to say.
I hope this helps, |