I'll just come/I’m just coming

[svetlana14]

My question relates to the following sentence. "Don't be so impatient! I'll just come/I’m just coming.”

The correct answer is “I’m just coming”. Why don’t to think of the situation also if the speaker has decided of coming just at the time of speaking (immediately decision before going) rather than at the time of coming (in the process)? Please explain to me as the exercise suggests only one correct answer.

 

[probus]

I'm afraid the best I can offer is what Fowler refers to as "cast iron idiom". In other words "I'm just coming" is what we say and the other is not. I hope another teacher may be able to provide a better answer.

If you want to use the future tense you could say "I'll come right away "

 

[Yankee]

My question relates to the following sentence. "Don't be so impatient! I'll just come/I’m just coming.”

The correct answer is “I’m just coming”. Why don’t to (?) think of the situation (?) also if the speaker has decided [STRIKE]of coming[/STRIKE] to come just at the time of speaking (immediatel[STRIKE]y[/STRIKE]) decision before going) rather than at the time of coming (in the process)? Please explain to me as the exercise suggests only one correct answer.

"I'm just coming". would not be a typical response to the quoted statement, nor would "I'll just come". Where did you find the exercise? And a more complete reference would help.

 

[Glizdka]

Not a teacher
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I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. I'm picturing an impatient friend who's calling me with something along the lines of "Are you here yet?" because we were supposed to meet at 11:00, and it's 11:15.

I'd use neither of them. I'd say "I'm coming already"/"I'm already coming". As for why the present continuous, it's because I'm in the middle of the process of coming to you, and with each step, I'm getting closer and closer to you. It sounds like it's not going to take much longer because I'm almost there.

 

[emsr2d2]

I wouldn't use either "I'm coming already" or "I'm already coming". If I was on the move, I'd say "I'm on my way". I should say, though, that "I'm just coming", used in post #1, is natural in BrE.

 

[Glizdka]

My apologies. I may have given a wrong answer.

I sometimes forget I'm not a native speaker and what feels right might just be wrong.

 

[probus]

"I'm just coming". would not be a typical response to the quoted statement, nor would "I'll just come". Where did you find the exercise? And a more complete reference would help.

In AmE, I agree. But in other varieties "I'm just coming" is common.

 

[svetlana14]

The source is Advanced Language Practice by Michael Vince with Key. The exercise 1 d) p. 9. There is no other context given. The mentioned exercise is very confused for me. Might be you have a chance to have a look at it and let me know whether the rest of the exercise appears to be also not natural for you.

For instance, [FONT=&quot] b) Quick, here comes a police car! What will we say/are we going to say about the broken window. [/FONT] While the correct choice is "are we going..." as it implies an agreed plan, I really don't understand why "will" does not work?

 

[Tdol]

I'll come (right) now would work where I'll just come doesn't.

 

[emsr2d2]

The source is Advanced Language Practice by Michael Vince with Key. The exercise 1 d) p. 9. There is no other context given. The mentioned exercise is very confused for me. Might be you have a chance to have a look at it and let me know whether the rest of the exercise appears to be also not natural for you.

For instance, b) Quick, here comes a police car! What will we say/are we going to say about the broken window. While the correct choice is "are we going..." as it implies an agreed plan, I really don't understand why "will" does not work?

Textbooks seem to be obsessed with this alleged difference between "will" and "going to". In reality, for most native speakers and in most contexts, that difference simply doesn't exist. The natural utterance in that context is, indeed, "What are we going to say about the broken window?" but there is nothing wrong with "What will we say ..." and "What shall we say ...".

 

[Yankee]

The source is Advanced Language Practice by Michael Vince with Key. The exercise 1 d) p. 9. There is no other context given. The mentioned exercise is very confused for me. Might be you have a chance to have a look at it and let me know whether the rest of the exercise appears to be also not natural for you.

For instance, b) Quick, here comes a police car! What will we say/are we going to say about the broken window. While the correct choice is "are we going..." as it implies an agreed plan, I really don't understand why "will" does not work?

I have a problem with the author's "correct choice". I have no problem with either. And I'll take a look at the source.

 

[jutfrank]

The answer is I'm just coming. You can't use will in this case because it doesn't count as what Vince calls "an immediate decision".

Look at the prefacing grammar explanation (Other ways of referring to the future), under the point of the use of 'just'. In the OP example, the present continuous is used to say that the action of coming is in progress at the time of speaking.

From Vince:

Just can be used to describe something on the point of happening. Hurry up! The train is just leaving/just about to leave.

 

[Yankee]

The answer is I'm just coming. You can't use will in this case because it doesn't count as what Vince calls "an immediate decision".

Look at the prefacing grammar explanation (Other ways of referring to the future), under the point of the use of 'just'. In the OP example, the present continuous is used to say that the action of coming is in progress at the time of speaking.

From Vince:

Just can be used to describe something on the point of happening. Hurry up! The train is just leaving/just about to leave.

Unfortunately, in a situation as described, I don't think I would have time to refer to Vance's, or your, reasoning/rule. So, I'll stick with "either".