present progressive

[flickgoer]

Sometimes I hear someone asking so:

Are you wanting some muffins ?

I wonder why they ask so in lieu of "Do you want some muffins ?"

I hear it a lot in hotels. I wonder why.

 

[richuk]

Sometimes I hear someone asking so:

Are you wanting some muffins ?

I wonder why they ask so in lieu of "Do you want some muffins ?"

I hear it a lot in hotels. I wonder why.

Not a teacher.

'Are you wanting some muffins ?' is not correct in my opinion. It is perhaps a lazy possibly informal way of saying "Do you want some muffins ?"

 

[TheParser]

Sometimes I hear someone asking so:

Are you wanting some muffins ?

I wonder why they ask so in lieu of "Do you want some muffins ?"

I hear it a lot in hotels. I wonder why.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Good morning.

(1) What an interesting question!

(2) I'm sure some teacher will explain to you and me the grammar involved.

(3) As just an ordinary native speaker, my comments are:

(a) If you have heard this at a hotel, then I imagine the staff has been told to be very courteous.

(b) "Do you want some muffins?" sounds too direct and harsh to my gentle ears.

(c) Maybe "Are you wanting/ Will you be wanting/ Would you be wanting...is a way to say, "Excuse me, sir, are you possibly thinking about ordering some muffins? I would be delighted to secure them."

(d) It seems that English speakers are starting to use the progressive more often with so-called stative verbs: I am liking you more and more every day./ I am believing more and more every day that I voted for the wrong candidate.

Thank you.

 

[xenoplant]

(d) It seems that English speakers are starting to use the progressive more often with so-called stative verbs: I am liking you more and more every day./ I am believing more and more every day that I voted for the wrong candidate.

Thank you.

(not a native) I think I notice it too -- in TV series/sitcoms (watch them for examples of spoken English))))). I was tought that 'see', 'hear' etc. were stative, as you put it, but I come across phrases like 'I'm hearing/seeing' quite often.

 

[Barb_D]

I'll have to pay more attention to this. It seems odd indeed.

I agree that "Do you want some muffins?" is less POLITE than "Would you like some muffins" or even "Would you care for a muffin?" but it seems less ODD that "Are you wanting some muffins?"

 

[TheParser]

Sometimes I hear someone asking so:

Are you wanting some muffins ?

I wonder why they ask so in lieu of "Do you want some muffins ?"

I hear it a lot in hotels. I wonder why.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

(1) Another point that I had forgotten: many of the ladies and gentlemen who work in hotels are not native speakers of English. Is it possible that their native language is affecting their English?

(a) The other day, I was walking way too fast for a "mature" gentleman such as I. As I passed a man whose native language was not English, he said (in a friendly tone) something to the effect that I shouldn't walk so fast. He then added (and these are his exact words) : You have many years!!! (An American might have yelled: Slow down, old man!)

(2) But if there are native speakers who find "Are you wanting some muffins?" quite acceptable (as I do), could someone explain the grammar involved?

Thank you.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

I have exciting news for anyone who is interested in this matter.

(1) An authority in English assures me that while "Are you wanting some muffins?" may not be exactly the Queen's English, it is by no means "bad" or even that unusual in American English.

(2) I was given one good example:

(a) No one complains if we say, "I have been wanting a car (for some time)," so why should we get all hot and bothered if someone says, "I am wanting a car"?

(3) I was also told that even some New York Times columnists use this construction. (For example: I am a meat eater and am wanting to eat less of it.)

(4) Anyone who wants a great article about this can go to Google and type in Cal Digest Grammar and Its Teaching: Challenging the Myths. The author is Ms. Diane Larsen-Freeman, the co-author of the authoritative The Grammar Book.

I am now wanting to relax a bit.

 

[billmcd]

The verb "to want" is one of several stative (non-dynamic) verbs that in general are "taboo" in progressive form both inside and outside hotels. Next time you hear it, take the muffin first, then correct the server's grammar.

 

[billmcd]

(Ref. your 2a.) From my "grammar bible": an action which began in the past and is still continuing can, with certain verbs, be expressed by either the present perfect or present perfect continuous. Those verbs include e.g., expect, hope, look, sit, stay, want, work. So, "have been wanting" according to my source is OK. Also, I would not consider journalists, even from the New York Times, as necessarily the last word (no pun intended) on grammar.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Good morning.

(1) If anyone is still interested in this matter, I wish to share something I stumbled across today.

(2) This is from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park:

Now do not be suspecting me of a pun.

(3) Surely no one can accuse Miss Austen of writing "bad" English!

Thank you.