[Grammar] 'I am loving it' - correct or not

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Olympian

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Hello,

I understand that in English it is incorrect to say something like this: "I was already knowing it" or "I am knowing it", and the correct form is "I already knew it" or "I know it".

The McDonalds ads say "I am loving it". I wonder if it is correct to say that. I had read a list of words which are not used in present continuous and 'love' was one of the words.

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5jj

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'I'm loving it' is fine and, despite the shudders of some teachers of English, has long been so. The progressive form is not appropriate for permanent states, I love my children', but is OK for things perceived as temporary: I'm loving it here in Bali. It's a pity we have only a week here.

The grammar check here has put a wavy line under the 'loving' in that last sentence to indicate that it is wrong. The grammarcheck has got it wrong this time.
 

Rover_KE

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5jj

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Off-topic, but not totally irrelevant, I think.

Many of the 'rules' found in elementary and intermediate course books and grammars are in fact only guidelines for what is commonly true. Unfortunately, some learners take them to be absolutely true at all times and, even more unfortunately, some teachers do. This can result in confusion for learners when they come across fairly well educated people naturally using constructions that learners have been told are wrong. The 'rule' that so-called stative verbs can never be used in progressive verbs is an example of this.

Most of the verbs generally listed are not often used in progressive forms. That is useful to remember. However, it is possible to use most of them in progressive forms in some contexts.
 

Olympian

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'I'm loving it' is fine and, despite the shudders of some teachers of English, has long been so. The progressive form is not appropriate for permanent states, I love my children', but is OK for things perceived as temporary: I'm loving it here in Bali. It's a pity we have only a week here.

The grammar check here has put a wavy line under the 'loving' in that last sentence to indicate that it is wrong. The grammarcheck has got it wrong this time.

5jj, thank you for explaining with examples. Indeed as your .sig says, context is all important. By the way, I don't see the wavy line in your posting.

Given what you have written in this and the next post on this thread, is it possible that because there are so many variations of English, that what is considered 'wrong' in 'standard' or a particular type of English, can be, indeed, 'right' in a particular variant? What I mean is some Indianisms (not sure if this is the right word, but I mean the Indian English variant) are so commonly used that people don't even know that they are considered 'wrong' by the speakers of 'standard' English.
 
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probus

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On first acquaintance with Indian English, forty years ago, I thought much of it was wrong. I have since come to understand that India has its own dialect of English. When in India, as I am almost every winter, I tend to adopt Indian English at least to some extent. It just eases communication. But I don't go so far as to use the present continuous tense as much as Indians do. Where I would say "He must think" Indians would usually say "He must be thinking."
 

5jj

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Given what you have written in this and the next post on this thread, is it possible that because there are so many variations of English, that what is considered 'wrong' in 'standard' or a particular type of English, can be, indeed, 'right' in a particular variant?
Yes - see also probus's last post.

Some of what is acceptable, indeed correct, in Indian English is not acceptable in standard British English (and vice versa). Native speakers of Indian English who wish to work in certain fields in Britain have to learn to conform more to what is acceptable in standard British English. This is not to say that Indian English is 'wrong'; it is just not British English. I am sure that I would have problems if I were to work in India - I would use inappropriate vocabulary, and my manner of addressing people might seem grossly inappropriate.
 

Olympian

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Yes - see also probus's last post.

Some of what is acceptable, indeed correct, in Indian English is not acceptable in standard British English (and vice versa). Native speakers of Indian English who wish to work in certain fields in Britain have to learn to conform more to what is acceptable in standard British English. This is not to say that Indian English is 'wrong'; it is just not British English. I am sure that I would have problems if I were to work in India - I would use inappropriate vocabulary, and my manner of addressing people might seem grossly inappropriate.

5jj and Probus, thank you for your responses.

Although Indian English has archaic BrE usages, over the past few years, AmE is increasingly being used in the newspapers. The odd thing (to me) is that although the usage is AmE, the spelling is BrE. Even the AmE spellings in syndicated articles from American newspapers or periodicals is changed to BrE when it appears in Indian newspapers. Perhaps it is the same in Britain for syndicated articles. Another thing that is odd to me is that informal AmE words are used in newspaper headlines. As with everything else in India, the language is also changing quite rapidly, and that includes body language, as Indians increasingly adopt (ape?) Western body language.
 

probus

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Very similar in Canada and India, Olympian. We are heavily and unavoidably under the influence of AmE, but we adhere to the spelling of BrE.

And like you, I have noticed a gradual evolution in Indian body language from the former extreme subtlety to a more forthright and Western style. I'd be very interested to learn what others think about this body language phenomenon.
 

Route21

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Some of what is acceptable, indeed correct, in Indian English is not acceptable in standard British English (and vice versa). .

Which explains the insistence that the term "equipments" is correct (BrE) English!

Regards
R21
 
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