Contrast between the uses of 'present continuous tense', please

Question

Hi there teachers, It's been a long time, I feel, since I last asked a question here. ..

I'm having a little trouble with the difference between these two uses of present continuous/progressive tense. I don't understand the italicised part given at the end. Please, could you help me with that, teachers?

1) The present continuous tense can be used to talk about something that started in the past (before the time of speaking), continues/goes on repeatedly up to the moment/time of our speech in this tense, and will go on or continue to happen into the future as well. The thing or the action may or may not be actually occurring/taking place/happening at this moment, at the time we say it.

2) The present continuous tense can also be used for something that starts in the past (before the time of speaking), continues/goes on up to the time or moment of speaking of it, and will probably continue/go on into the future (after the time of our speech as well). The action may or may not be actually happening/occurring at this moment, at the moment/point/time of our speech.

In both the cases the action is in porgress or on going at the moment of our speech, though it may or may not be actually happening/occurring at this moment. But the difference between the two cases is that in the former case, there's repetition involved. While, in the latter case, there's no repetition of the action involved.

Thank you all. ..

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

It doesn't make much sense to me. Does the author give examples of each case?

This page may help: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html

GPY · Answer

This is not, in my opinion, very well explained.

It could be referring to the difference between repeated discrete actions (e.g. "I'm eating a lot of vegetables these days") and continuous actions (e.g. "The Earth is getting warmer").

Fivejedjon · Answer

The form traditionally known as the Continuous or Progressive, may be unmarked for tense, I am working, or marked, I was working. Typical lists of the uses of the forms include:

Unmarked:

Action in progress at the present moment: Peter is in the study. He's reading a letter.
Temporary situation around the present moment: I'm walking to work this week.
Repeated short action: He's hopping up and down
Annoying habit (often used with always): Andrea's always losing her keys.
Future arrangement: We're meeting in front of the station at 7.

It is true that the uses of the form can be described in such ways as those noted, but such descriptions are not very helpful for the learner.

The 'Rule' .

A simple 'rule' that covers all uses of this aspect is:

We use the Durative Aspect when we wish to draw attention to the fact that the situation spoken of has duration, and that the duration is limited.

Let us now take a fresh look at the utterances shown at the beginning of this response:

1, Peter is in the study. He's reading a letter.

In [1], Peter's reading of the letter has duration; it started before the moment of speaking/writing and continues after it. That duration is limited; some (unspecified) time ago we know that he was not reading, and at some (also unspecified) time in the future, when he reaches the end of the letter, he will stop. This is why the Durative Aspect, sometimes, denotes a situation in progress at the moment of speaking.

We may contrast this with:

1a. Peter reads a lot of books

in which there is no limitation. The speaker's use of the Unmarked Tense form simply presents the situation of Peter's reading. For all we know this situation may continue throughout his life. From our knowledge of reality we can assume that the situation does not continue for every hour of the day and night, though other situations could, for example:

1b. Peter breathes very noisily.

We may also contrast [1] with

1c. Peter passes the ball to George who....

where the passing has duration, albeit very short, indeed shorter than the time it takes to talk about it. The speaker's choice of the Non-Durative (Unmarked) form is a choice not to emphasise duration. The fact that the reading of the letter in [1] is actually in progress at the moment of speaking/writing is incidental. Context makes this clear; the Durative Aspect does not in itself imply happening at the moment of speaking.

2. I'm walking to work this week.

In [2], the limited duration of the activity is evident from the adverbial this week. Unless uttered by the speaker when s/he is en route to work, then the action is not taking place at the moment of speaking. Even if uttered then, the focus is on the limited duration, i.e. only in the course of one week, that the walking method of getting to work is happening.

3. He's hopping up and down.

Situations such as hopping have a very short duration. The use of the Durative Aspect makes the actualisation of the situation of longer duration. Of necessity this involves repetitions of the short situation, albeit in a limited time period. In contrast with this, when speakers use the Unmarked Tense as in:

3a. He (always) hops up and down when he's angry.

They place no limitation on the frequency of his hopping/being angry (though the facts presented make it clear that the situation actualises only on those occasions when he is angry). Note too that always rarely carries the meaning of for all time; its meaning is often similar to on all occasions, repeatedly.

Situations such as starting and stopping are of even shorter duration. Indeed, they have no duration at all. What follows the starting and precedes the stopping has duration: when a train stops, it is moving up to a point in time; then it is not moving. The use of the Durative Aspect extends the duration of the process to a point before or after the point in time:

3x. The curtain is going up. The show is beginning
3y. Get the bags down. The train is stopping.
3z. The chemo therapy did not work. I’m afraid your father is dying.

In [3x], the speaker is in that limited period of time between the beginning of the rise of the curtain and the first words or actions of the actor(s). In [3y], the train has begun the slowing process that will end when its movement has stopped. Similarly in [3], the father has begun the process that will end in his death. In keeping with all uses of the Durative Aspect, the speaker wishes to draw attention to the fact that the situation spoken of has duration, and that the duration is limited.

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 sight illogical. However, as we have seen in [3] the use of the Durative Aspect with a short action stresses the repetition of that action. The combination of the Durative Aspect and always tells us that this is a an 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 words, but by the whole context of situation and the speaker's tone. It is not true to suggest that it always expresses the speaker's irritation; with change of tone of voice and facial expression, the person uttering [4] could express irritation, resignation, amusement or a number of other feelings. Here, as is almost always the case in English, it is context and other factors that express feelings, not simply the words. The combination can just as easily be used to express pleasure, as in:

4a. He's always buying me flowers.

5. We're meeting in front of the station at 7.

In [5], an arrangement has been made before the time of speaking. That arrangement continues (i.e. it has duration), extending from the initial time of making the arrangement to the (future) time of the arranged happening occurring.

Laborious · Answer

GPY and Alphecca Stars, thanks to both of you for your replies. When we use present continuous, it's not necessary that something is actually happening/occurring/taking place at the moment we say that thing in present continuous. For example, if I say I'm writing a book, this means that the action of me writing the book is in progress or on going in the present, at the moment of speech. But it may or may not be actually happening/occurring at the moment/time I say "I'm writing a book". Doesn't this use of present continuous tense combine two uses (or senses), i.e. the action is in progress/on going + it's repeated in nature (I write a little of it everyday)?

Actually, I haven't talken what I said in my first post from a book or a site. I wrote that myself. I wanted to show a contrast between the two uses of the present continuous tense. In one of them, there's repetition involved; while in the other, there is no repetition of the action involved. I can think of examples where repetition of an action is involved, for ex My granny is knitting a sweater for me, She is taking swimming classes, Somebody is knocking at the door etc. But I'm having a hard time providing examples where there's no repetition involved. The action has continued/gone on from the moment it started.

Do you feel there is a difference between happen/occur/take place and continue/in progress/go on when talking about something in present continuous tense, pease?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

LaboriousDo you feel there is a difference between happen/occur/take place and continue/in progress/go on when talking about something in present continuous tense, pease?

Read 5jj's elaborate and excellent response. There's nothing about the progressive that he has not covered in detail.

Here's an example where repetition is rather unlikely:

Joseph is reading Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.

GPY · Answer

LaboriousBut I'm having a hard time providing examples where there's no repetition involved. The action has continued/gone on from the moment it started.

"I'm cooking dinner", "The rain is falling steadily", "Summer is turning to autumn" -- these do not imply repetition.

GPY · Answer

AlpheccaStarsHere's an example where repetition is rather unlikely:Joseph is reading Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.

I think this sentence can be understood in two ways. Either he is reading it at this actual moment, or he is in the process of reading it in stages but not necessarily doing so right now (e.g. maybe he read some yesterday and will read some more tomorrow). In the latter case I see repetition implied.

CalifJim · Answer

LaboriousI'm having a hard time providing examples where there's no repetition involved.

Hmm. It seems to me that these would be easier to find than those with repetition (unless I misunderstand the sort of examples you want).

The leftovers are warming on the stove.
Jake is looking for his lost keys.
Lucy is weeding the garden.

CJ

Edit: It now occurs to me that you may want cases where the action in progress not only is not repeated (performed in "installments") but it is not going on at the time of the utterance. I don't know if such examples are possible.

I'm writing a book. You regard this as involving "repetition", I believe, and you're not using the word "repetition" literally. You're referring to interrupted actions or "actions in installments". For example, I can be having a good time at a party when I say, "I'm writing a book".

Lucy is weeding the garden. This may be done all within a single block of time or spaced over several sessions ("repeated action"; "interrupted action") so there is no way to tell from the words themselves whether this is a case of repetition or non-repetition. Even if it's done in a single session, there may be moments when Lucy stops briefly to wipe her brow. If you happen to utter the sentence at that very moment, she's not literally "weeding the garden" at that moment. Does this mean you've lied? This is the kind of conundrum we get into when we try to describe actions. It depends on the time scale. From one viewpoint (larger time scale) she's weeding the garden; from another viewpoint (very narrow time scale) she's not weeding the garden while she's weeding the garden (but taking time to wipe her brow).

The leftovers are warming on the stove. This may be a better example of non-repetition, because the action is completely continuous. The problem is that in such cases, you can never have the case where there is any time at which you can utter the sentence when the action is not literally taking place.

CJ

GPY · Answer

CalifJimEdit: It now occurs to me that you may want cases where the action in progress not only is not repeated (performed in "installments") but it is not going on at the time of the utterance. I don't know if such examples are possible.

Well, I guess you could have something like "I'm running a marathon next Tuesday", but this is kind of a trick answer. Actually, I did not understand the question to be asking for this. Perhaps I did not understand it correctly.

CalifJim · Answer

GPYActually, I did not understand the question to be asking for this. Perhaps I did not understand it correctly.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not sure what the question is asking. I'm just guessing.

CJ

Contrast between the uses of 'present continuous tense', please

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