[Grammar] Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

mihallure · Jan 15, 2014

Sometimes when I'm scolding my son for having been mean to his little sister, I'm asking him:
"Why are you being mean to her?". Is the countinuous aspect used correctly, or should I say: "Why are mean to her?"
Thank you!

bhaisahab · Jan 15, 2014

mihallure said:
Sometimes when I'm scolding my son for having been mean to his little sister, I'm asking him:
"Why are you being mean to her?". Is the countinuous aspect used correctly, or should I say: "Why are you mean to her?"
Thank you!

Both are fine. In the first you are asking why he is being mean at the moment, in the second you are asking why he is always mean to her.

MikeNewYork · Jan 15, 2014

mihallure said:
Sometimes when I'm scolding my son for having been mean to his little sister, I'm asking him:
"Why are you being mean to her?". Is the countinuous aspect used correctly, or should I say: "Why are mean to her?"
Thank you!

Your second version is incorrect. It can be repaired by adding "you" after "are".

5jj · Jan 15, 2014

MikeNewYork said:
Your second version is incorrect. It can be repaired by adding "you" after "are".

That's why bhai repaired it in the quoted text.

MikeNewYork · Jan 15, 2014

5jj said:
That's why bhai repaired it in the quoted text,

Ah! Didn't see that.

Barb_D · Jan 15, 2014

mihallure said:
Sometimes when I'm scolding my son for having been mean to his little sister, I'm asking him:
"Why are you being mean to her?". Is the countinuous aspect used correctly, or should I say: "Why are mean to her?"
Thank you!

Interestingly, in your question you wrote "I'm asking him."

That's when you should have used "I ask him" to show it's a repeated action.

[Grammar] Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

mihallure

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