Conditional statement

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nat1ve

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Hi,

Which of the below statements is more proper to use, and why?

If I'm listening to music, I can't concentrate at anything else.

If I listen to music, I can't concentrate at anything else.

Present tense vs Present progressive.

Thank you.
 

GoesStation

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Either one could be correct if they both said on instead of ​at.
 
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nat1ve

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Either one could be correct if they both said to instead of ​at.

Hi GS,

Thank you.

What do you mean by to / at?

It is correct to say listen to / concentrate at.
 

GoesStation

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You listen to something. If you pay very close attention, you're concentrating on it. You can't concentrate at something.
 

nat1ve

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You listen to something. If you pay very close attention, you're concentrating on it. You can't concentrate at something.

Thank you GS,

How would you say these sentences correctly then?
 

emsr2d2

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nat1ve, you've been given the correct prepositions to use with "listen" and with "concentrate" so now you should be able to write the correct version of your original sentences.
 

Tdol

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Thank you GS,

How would you say these sentences correctly then?

I'd use the following:

If I'm listening to music, I can't concentrate on anything else.

If I listen to music, I can't concentrate on anything else.

I think GoesStation meant to say on in the first answer rather than to.
 

GoesStation

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I think GoesStation meant to say on in the first answer rather than to.

Thanks for pointing out my egregious error. No wonder the OP was confused.
 

nat1ve

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Hi Tdol and GS,

Thanks! that makes it clear now!

English is so complicated.
 

Tdol

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Thanks for pointing out my egregious error. No wonder the OP was confused.

I did that recently when I forgot to type the word not, which rather affected the answer I was trying to give.
 

Rover_KE

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I fouled up, too, in this thread, when I completely misread the title and question.
 
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