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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
"have been usually doing" right or wrong?
Dear friends,
I'm utterly confused about the following task in a test, so I'm begging for help.
We............. tennis every Friday for three months.
1) usually play 2) are usually playing 3) have been usually playing
We normally use "Usually" with the Present Simple, can it be used with Continuous? Or should we ignor "for three months" as we are speaking about a repeated action? I guess it is used here to bewilder students. Am I wright?
I'm utterly confused about the following task in a test, so I'm begging for help.
We............. tennis every Friday for three months.
1) usually play 2) are usually playing 3) have been usually playing
We normally use "Usually" with the Present Simple, can it be used with Continuous? Or should we ignor "for three months" as we are speaking about a repeated action? I guess it is used here to bewilder students. Am I wright?
Top answer
Hi '3' is wrong, but '1' and '2' are OK. Playing tennis is a single event but, if it is your chosen activity for the summer, it's also continuous ... - We usually play tennis every Friday for three months - We are usually playing tennis every Friday for three months Dave
- Hi '3' is wrong, but '1' and '2' are OK.
- Playing tennis is a single event but, if it is your chosen activity for the summer, it's also continuous ...
- - We usually play tennis every Friday for three months - We are usually playing tennis every Friday for three months Dave
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4 Answers
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Hi
'3' is wrong, but '1' and '2' are OK. Playing tennis is a single event but, if it is your chosen activity for the summer, it's also continuous ...
- We usually play tennis every Friday for three months
- We are usually playing tennis every Friday for three months
Dave
'3' is wrong, but '1' and '2' are OK. Playing tennis is a single event but, if it is your chosen activity for the summer, it's also continuous ...
- We usually play tennis every Friday for three months
- We are usually playing tennis every Friday for three months
Dave
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Thank you, Dave!
I get your idea, but I'm afraid we are supposed to chose only one answer..... Which is preferable? The first one?
By the way, is there any explanation why #3 is wrong? Is it because the Pr Perf Cont shows a ceaseless action (playing one game of tennis), not a series of tennis games?
Thank you for your help,
Olga
I get your idea, but I'm afraid we are supposed to chose only one answer..... Which is preferable? The first one?
By the way, is there any explanation why #3 is wrong? Is it because the Pr Perf Cont shows a ceaseless action (playing one game of tennis), not a series of tennis games?
Thank you for your help,
Olga
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Hi Olga
I'd say '3' does not work because the adverb, 'usually' is wrong in the middle of the verb, but you can put it before. You could say:
- We have usually been playing tennis on Fridays
I find it difficult to decide between the other two. It is not unusual to use the continuous tense to describe something that you do periodically:
- We are usually playing
I'd say '3' does not work because the adverb, 'usually' is wrong in the middle of the verb, but you can put it before. You could say:
- We have usually been playing tennis on Fridays
I find it difficult to decide between the other two. It is not unusual to use the continuous tense to describe something that you do periodically:
- We are usually playing
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Dave,
thank you so much! I haven't noticed the wrong position of "usually" being concerned about the verb form
It
thank you so much! I haven't noticed the wrong position of "usually" being concerned about the verb form
It0
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