[Grammar] should be going/go

[shibli.aftab]

1. It's so late. I should be going.
2. It's so late. I should go.

What's the difference in meaning of above sentences?

 

[Rover_KE]

I can't think of any.

 

[shibli.aftab]

I can't think of any.

Then why first sentence is in future continuous?

 

[probus]

Then why first sentence is in future continuous?

There is no good reason for it. As a native speaker I prefer "I should be going". But there is no compelling reason. It's just a question of what people tend to say. "I should go" is also perfectly correct.

 

[Rover_KE]

[STRIKE]Then why first sentence is in future continuous?[/STRIKE]

Then why is the first sentence in the future continuous?

Please note the correct way to ask this question.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Shibli:

I am not disagreeing with the teachers' answers.

I thought, however, that you might be interested in what one respected book * says: Sometimes the future progressive sounds less direct and so more polite.

That book gives this example: "I'm afraid we must be going." (Only my note: I think that sounds more polite than "I'm afraid we must go.")


Source: Michael Swan, Practical English Usage (1995 edition), entry #161.2 on page 159.