come & coming

[carat]

Have a look at these sentences and my explanations. Tell me and correct me if I'm wrong.

a. These children come from a slum.
b. These children are coming from a slum.

And here are my explanations for the two sentences above.
a. All the children that came from a slum are here now. Their number is constant.
b. The children are not all here now. Their number is still growing.

 

[emsr2d2]

Have a look at these sentences and my [STRIKE]explanation[/STRIKE] understanding of them. Tell me and correct me if I'm wrong.

a. These children come from a slum.
b. These children are coming from a slum.

And here is my [STRIKE]explanation for[/STRIKE] understanding of the [STRIKE]tow[/STRIKE] two sentences above.

a. All the children that came from a slum are here now. Their number is constant.
b. The children are not all here now. Their number is still growing.

Unfortunately, you're wrong.

"These children come from a slum" simply means that a specific group of children, which has already been identified in a previous sentence, live in a slum.
- Do those children come from the posh part of town?
- No, they come from a slum.

"These children are coming from a slum" is an unusual sentence. I can only imagine it being used when someone can see a group of children who are on the move, walking from somewhere to somewhere.
- I can see a group of children walking down that hill. Are they coming from school?
- No, they're coming from a slum.

 

[carat]

@emsr2d2
Okay my understanding of the two sentences was dead wrong. On the other hand with your good description of a possible scenario

for my second sentence, the situation might not be so unusual.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]@emsr2d2[/STRIKE]
Okay, my understanding of the two sentences was dead wrong. On the other hand, with your good description of a possible scenario for my second sentence, the situation might not be so unusual.

Note my addition of commas to your post.

I only said that the second sentence was unusual because even the situation I described would be fairly uncommon. I should probably have said "unlikely" rather than "unusual". Bear in mind, though, that I live in a country that does not (officially) have slums. Perhaps such conversations are more common in other countries.