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Old 23-Apr-2008, 04:21
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Default arrive

HI there

Why is the present continuous tense used in the following sentence?

It appears that up to 75% of the staff are arriving late for work.

Thanks

pete
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Old 23-Apr-2008, 04:25
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They did it yesterday when the survey was done and came up with this finding, so (and that's the point of most surveys, to predict the state of affairs today and in the foreseeable future) they will do it today, and again next week, and...
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Old 23-Apr-2008, 04:29
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Default Re: arrive

Hi there,

Thanks

So do you mean that the continuous tense 'arriving' is a future meaning?

Thanks
pete
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Old 23-Apr-2008, 04:37
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Default Re: arrive

No. The action of 'arriving late' is ongoing - continuous -it happens each and every day. So an observer at the employee's entrance of a company would have seen 75% of staff arrive late yesterday, arrive late today, and because this is an ongoing occurrence, the observer will most probably see it happen tomorrow as well.
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