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Snappy Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Be wanting to
I understand that "I am wanting a new car" is ungrammatical but "I have been wanting a new car" is acceptable.
Is this because "I have been wanting a new car" is in the present perfect progressive tense?
How about the following sentences (in the future progressive tense or past progressive tense)?
1. I'll be wanting a new car next year.
2. She was wanting a new car, and her father bought it for her.
with "more and more"
3. I am wanting a new car more and more.
Is this because "I have been wanting a new car" is in the present perfect progressive tense?
How about the following sentences (in the future progressive tense or past progressive tense)?
1. I'll be wanting a new car next year.
2. She was wanting a new car, and her father bought it for her.
with "more and more"
3. I am wanting a new car more and more.
Top answer
Yes. #1, 2, and 3 are OK, too, in conversation.
- Yes.
- #1, 2, and 3 are OK, too, in conversation.
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3 Answers
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Snappy:
The most common way is to use the simple present, especially if the "want" has just happened. The progressive can be used in conversation, for emphasis, if I have been thinking about it for some time in the present. Normally, an adverb of emphasis would be used.
Situation: I am in a restaurant, reading the menu.
I say to my friends: What do you want today? I want a ham
The most common way is to use the simple present, especially if the "want" has just happened. The progressive can be used in conversation, for emphasis, if I have been thinking about it for some time in the present. Normally, an adverb of emphasis would be used.
Situation: I am in a restaurant, reading the menu.
I say to my friends: What do you want today? I want a ham
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Hi Sanppy,
Personally, in normal situations, most of us would simply say "I have wanted a LCD TV for a long time, but it was too expensive...". Wanting - sounds a little too unuaual, although it is still grammatically correct.
This is my perspective: "Want" is a human emotion, or shall we say 'desire" which before it's actually fulfilled it always implicatively exists. In that
Personally, in normal situations, most of us would simply say "I have wanted a LCD TV for a long time, but it was too expensive...". Wanting - sounds a little too unuaual, although it is still grammatically correct.
This is my perspective: "Want" is a human emotion, or shall we say 'desire" which before it's actually fulfilled it always implicatively exists. In that
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