He is always smoking in ...

[milan2003_07]

I know that we can use Present Progressive with "always" when we are speaking about some actions that (can) irritate us. E.g.:

- He is always smoking in the school building even though he knows very well it's strictly prohibited.
- This player is always knocking down his opponents when he loses the ball near the penalty area and this then causes unnecessary yellow cards and further disqualifications.

The first phrase can be said by school staff gossipping and the second one by a coach whose player misbehaves during football games (matches).

In Oxford_English_Grammar_Course_Advanced by Michael Swan I've just found the following examples with Present Progressive together with "always":

- She is always turning up with little presents for the children
- I'm always running into Joanna in this supermarket

These two sentences seem not to contain any sign of irritation, but, as Michael Swan says, they speak about some unpredictable or unplanned events. Do you use the Present Progressive this way?

P.S.
Michael Swan's grammar book also contains examples of using the Tense above with "always" for complaints and cricisism. I've heard a lot about it, but using the Tense for cricisism or complaints is new for me and I've decided to ask you.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes.

 

[5jj]

4. Andrea's always losing her keys.

In [4], the use of always, normally associated by virtue of its meaning with the unmarked tense seems at first illogical. However, as we have seen with [3] the use of the durative aspect with short actions can stress the repetition of that action. The combination of always and the durative action tells us that this is a situation that actualises repeatedly but, because the duration of the whole series of losing is limited, it is not presented as a permanent state of affairs.

This combination is associated by some writers with some idea of the speaker's emotional attitude, but this will be made explicit not just by the aspect, but by the whole context of situation. It is not true to suggest, as some do, that it always expresses the speaker's irritationvi. It can just as easily express pleasure:

4a. William is so sweet. He's always buying me flowers and chocolates.

English Tenses and Aspects 4 - The Durative Aspect - UsingEnglish.com

A look at the form traditionally known as the continuous or progressive

www.usingenglish.com

 

[Tarheel]

Word tenses are not proper nouns.