[General] Loving

[Tina3]

I love my husband.

I know it is correct to say I loved him too. You loved the man some years ago. Not nowadays.

Why can't I use the -ing form?
I am loving him. [We don't say this.]

This is the same with the verb hate.
I am hating him/her. [We don't say this.]

 

[Tina3]

Can you tell me something about my question?

 

[TheParser]

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


Hello, Tina:


Actually, sometimes verbs such as "love" and "hate" can take the progressive in the sense of "more and more."

For example, the famous restaurant chain McDonald's has an advertising slogan: I am loving it. I guess it means

something like: I am loving McDonald's food more and more every day.

So I guess a girl could tell her boyfriend: You know, when we first started going out, I really didn't like you that much.

But with each passing day, I am loving you more and more.

And that goes for "hate," too. There are some people at our jobs or people in the news (movie stars, politicians, etc.)

that we do not like very much, but with each passing day (and each time they open their mouths), we are hating them more

more every day. On a very serious note, there is a world leader (no name, of course) whom many people disliked a year

ago, but now many people are hating him more and more because during the last year he has done really cruel things to

his people.


HAVE A NICE DAY!

 

[Tina3]

Thank you
How about the verbs hear and understand?
I understand you.
I am understanding you. [Not correct.]

I hear what you say. [ On the phone. Maybe the lines are not clear; however, I can hear.]
I am hearing what you say. [ Not correct.]

 

[SoothingDave]

"I am understanding you" or "I am hearing you" are unnatural. They are OK grammatically but not natural.

 

[TheParser]

How about the verbs hear and understand?

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


Hello, Tina:

One of the star teachers at this website has often warned us students of English never to say "never." As you know,

there are always exceptions in every language -- including yours, right?

Well, in my 75 years of life, I really have not heard many uses of "hear" and "understand" in the affirmative progressive,

but I immediately thought: I think that it is occasionally used in the negative. So I went to my favorite place to see

how native speakers write: the "books" section of Google.


*****

I think that it is accurate to say that using the negative progressive of "hear" and "understand" is not that unusual,

especially in the sense of "more and more." Here are two examples I found:

(a) Two people are having a discussion/argument: "The problem we're having here is not that I'm not understanding

you, it's that you're not understanding me!" -- The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity (2005) by Edwene Gaines.

(b) Again two people are having a discussion or "polite" disagreement: "'I'm not hearing you say you want this,' he

pointed out. 'I want what's best for the children.' " -- Table for Five (2012) by Susan Wiggs.

*****

P.S. I have just checked my files and I have this sentence from a Starbucks executive quoted in the Los Angeles Times of July 2, 2008. I guess that I copied it because I, too, found his use of the progressive "interesting":

"We're understanding that we are in a tough economic environment and we have to innovate and invest."


HAVE A NICE DAY!

 

[CarloSsS]

NOT A TEACHER

I have even heard (in American movies) the verb "to see" used in progressive form. I would have never thought until then that it could be used in progressive form. Usually, it was a question expressing astonishment at what the speaker sees.

For example, in the last Star Trek movie, there is a scene in which an enormous strange-looking ship traveling from the future back in time appears on the screen on the bridge. One of the officers asks the captain:

Captain, are you seeing this?

As TheParser said, there are exceptions to almost every rule in any language.