Grammar doubt.

Question

Hi, I have a grammar doubt and I was wondering if you might help me. Some days ago, I had an English test (I'm Italian, so English isn't my first language) and my teacher marked my answer as incorrected, but I disagree with her. I had to complete a sentence with the right verb. The text said: They are staying here for the next week. When they come to visit, the whole family "is taking"/"takes" the children out. Last week they went to Central Park. So, I chose "takes" as correct answer, because it's an ordinary action (every time they come to visit, they go out on a trip), but the teacher said the correct answer was "is taking" because it's a planned future. What do you think? Which one is the right answer? Thanks in advance, I would also appreciate any correction here on my post.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Your teacher is right that the progressive is used as a shorthand for "is going to take" for a planned future action.

When they come to visit, the whole family "is going to take" / "is taking"  the children out.

The present is used for habitual actions. You see, the context makes a big difference!

They come here to visit us every summer for a week. When they come to visit, the whole family takes the children out.

However, in this case, it is not completely clear if the writer is talking about the habitual case or the future case.

It could be interpreted that they arrived the previous week, and "takes" applies for the entire 2-week stay. It is not a future planned event; it is a habitual action that occurs every day during their visit.

So I agree with you, that "takes" is the better choice.

Blue Jay · Answer

Barney StinsonHi, I have a grammar doubt and I was wondering if you might help me. Some days ago, I had an English test (I'm Italian, so English isn't my first language) and my teacher marked my answer as incorrected, but I disagree with her. I had to complete a sentence with the right verb. The text said: They are staying here for the next week. When they come to visit, the whole family "is taking"/"takes" the children out. Last week they went to Central Park. So, I chose "takes" as the correct answer, because it's an ordinary action (every time they come to visit, they go out on a trip), but the teacher said the correct answer was "is taking" because it's a planned future. What do you think? Which one is the right answer? Thanks in advance, I would also appreciate any correction here on my post.

I agree with you and AlpheccaStars.

To me, "They are staying here for the next week" and "last week they went to Central Park" indicate that they are already here. Thus "when they come to visit..." can't be part of a future action, and so must indicate what they usually do, not what they are planning to do.

Anonymous · Answer

Barney StinsonThey are staying here for the next week. When they come to visit, the whole family "is taking"/"takes" the children out. Last week they went to Central Park

I don't know why such ambiguous tests are produced. It's so confusing and resulting in unnecessary stress during the test. Why not simply say that 'they decided to stay here for the next week'?

Barney Stinson · Answer

Anonymous
Barney StinsonThey are staying here for the next week. When they come to visit, the whole family "is taking"/"takes" the children out. Last week they went to Central Park
I don't know why such ambiguous tests are produced. It's so confusing and resulting in unnecessary stress during the test. Why not simply say that 'they decided to stay here for the next week'?

I hate this kind of tests, they confuse me every time. Unfortunally, those are the only tests my teacher is able to do, because she finds them on the internet. She isn't really prepared, I don't think she has never given us a test made by herself (and if she did, it was full of mistakes).

Grammar doubt.

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