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simple present and present continuous
i want some questions and answer about simple present and present continuous to teach my kid.
please send me details about how simple present and present continuous forming.
thanks
ra
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More on present simple, present continuous
I think one important point is that with the present simple, the speaker sees the event as a permanent event. For example, when I was 12, I told a girl, I love you, not, I am loving you, because AT THAT MOMENT I thought it would last forever - even though it only lasted three days.
On the other hand, At the age of 18, I started looking for a wife. I'm 41 now and I'm still looking. I see this as a TEMPORARY event, as when I find HER, I'll stop looking - so I use the present contonuous - despite the fact that the event has been going on for 26 years!
Interesting, isn't it?
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Re: More on present simple, present continuous

Originally Posted by
Jeremy Taylor I think one important point is that with the present simple, the speaker sees the event as a permanent event. For example, when I was 12, I told a girl, I love you, not, I am loving you, because AT THAT MOMENT I thought it would last forever - even though it only lasted three days.
On the other hand, At the age of 18, I started looking for a wife. I'm 41 now and I'm still looking. I see this as a TEMPORARY event, as when I find HER, I'll stop looking - so I use the present contonuous - despite the fact that the event has been going on for 26 years!
Interesting, isn't it?
I really don't agree with your statement that present simple = permanent event. We use present simple in different situations.
I drive to work. (describes a habit)
I like pizza. (my feeling at the moment)
I leave for Europe tomorrow. (a future scheduled event)
I sentence you to ten years in jail. (a pronouncement)
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Point taken, Mike. I was just concentrating on one aspect of the ps/pc conundrum.
Jeremy
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Originally Posted by
Jeremy Taylor Point taken, Mike. I was just concentrating on one aspect of the ps/pc conundrum.
Jeremy
No problem. :wink:
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Re: More on present simple, present continuous

Originally Posted by
MikeNewYork 
Originally Posted by
Jeremy Taylor I think one important point is that with the present simple, the speaker sees the event as a permanent event. For example, when I was 12, I told a girl, I love you, not, I am loving you, because AT THAT MOMENT I thought it would last forever - even though it only lasted three days.
On the other hand, At the age of 18, I started looking for a wife. I'm 41 now and I'm still looking. I see this as a TEMPORARY event, as when I find HER, I'll stop looking - so I use the present contonuous - despite the fact that the event has been going on for 26 years!
Interesting, isn't it?
I really don't agree with your statement that present simple = permanent event. We use present simple in different situations.
I drive to work. (describes a habit)
I like pizza. (my feeling at the moment)
I leave for Europe tomorrow. (a future scheduled event)
I sentence you to ten years in jail. (a pronouncement)
mistakie...
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Re: More on present simple, present continuous

Originally Posted by
MikeNewYork I really don't agree with your statement that present simple = permanent event. We use present simple in different situations.
I drive to work. (describes a habit)
I like pizza. (my feeling at the moment)
I leave for Europe tomorrow. (a future scheduled event)
I sentence you to ten years in jail. (a pronouncement)
I don't quite agree with your last two sentences. I could just as well say "I'm leaving for Europe tomorrow" as what you have, without altering the meaning. Likewise, a judge could just as well say "I'm sentencing you to ten years in jail." (I would allow that the use of simple present in that context has a loftier tone, but the meaning is the same.)
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