[Grammar] keeping me waiting

[mamen]

Teachers,

Is the sentence "He is keeping me waiting." grammatically correct?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I consider it correct, but I am not a teacher.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, it is correct.

 

[mamen]

Teachers,
Some of my friends said that the sentence "He is keeping me waiting." is grammatically incorrect?

Can you give me reasons why it's correct?

 

[Skrej]

One reason is that we use the present progressive to describe actions which are happening as we speak.

 

[mamen]

One reason is that we use the present progressive to describe actions which are happening as we speak.

My friends said that the two verbs (which are both in the present progressive tense) are incorrectly used.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Skrej]

There is only one (main) verb here, which is 'keeping'. 'Waiting' is a participle being used as an adjective.


You could change the tense of the main verb and it wouldn't affect the participle. "He kept me waiting."

You could substitute another adjective to prove the point - "He is keeping me busy".

 

[Barb_D]

He is the one keep you waiting.

He's not "keeping waiting."

 

[mamen]

How about the sentence "Sorry for keeping you waiting."? Is it grammatically correct?

 

[MikeNewYork]

It is not really a sentence without "I'm" or "I am" at the beginning. But as it exists, it is very common in colloquial English.

 

[mamen]

Is "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." = "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Matthew Wai]

"I'm sorry for I have kept you waiting."

I would say 'I'm sorry to have kept you waiting', but I am not a teacher.

 

[mamen]

I would say 'I'm sorry to have kept you waiting', but I am not a teacher.

I have already changed some parts of the sentence.Thanks..

 

[Skrej]

Is "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." = "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."?

Thank you in advance.

Yes, these two are essentially equivalent. You could say either one.

Also, as Mike pointed out, while "Sorry to keep you waiting" isn't technically a complete sentence, it is extremely common. I wouldn't consider it wrong, just a bit more informal and colloquial.

 

[mamen]

Yes, these two are essentially equivalent. You could say either one.

In the sentence "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting," the action verb is in the present progressive tense; in the sentence "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," a perfect infinitive was used which has the same kind of meaning as perfect or past tense. Now, how could the two sentences be equivalent?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Skrej]

Why do you think the first sentence uses the present progressive?

 

[mamen]

Why do you think the first sentence uses the present progressive?

I'm sorry but I really don't know why. Maybe a person would say, "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." if he/she is talking with someone (via phone) and that someone (whom he/she is speaking to) has been waiting for him/her for an hour.

 

[tedmc]

With the present progressive, the waiting is still going on.

 

[Skrej]

I suppose I should have said "What makes you think it's present progressive tense?"

What I meant was for you to look at the sentence, and determine if it's really present progressive, or some other tense.


In other words, tell me what the verb is in the sentence. (Hint: remember what we discussed earlier about participles vs. progressive tense). Just because a word ends in -ing doesn't mean it's being used as part of a present progressive tense verb.

 

[mawes12]

Teachers,

Is the sentence "He is keeping me waiting." grammatically correct?

I heard that is an object complement. Not a teacher.