"I'm loving it!" --- Is the sentence grammatical?

Question

Our teacher says, "Never use progressive tense with verbs like know or love. We should use present or past tense." But yesterday, I saw a propoganda (advertisement) slogan in MacDonald:"I'm loving it!" So I want to know whether the sentence is grammatical. Thanks.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

The sentence is as grammatical as McDonald's foodstuffs are palatable - in other words, not at all. But then many advertising slogans are ungrammatical, since this can make them more memorable.

Usenet · Answer

It's certainly ungrammatical according to the rule book, but I think it's being used more and more in everyday life, not just in advertising slogans, e.g. "I've got a new job and I'm loving it!". I can see the grammar books changing over this one in the not too distant future.

Usenet · Answer

Please would someone explain this to me. I am not familiar with the meta-language of grammar such as "progressive tense", although my assumption is that this refers to words that end in ~ing.

Is it not the case that any verb can be used in the progressive tense if one is in the process of enacting the verb? Therefore, while it may be more natural to say "I love it", isn't it also valid to say "I am currently loving it"? In the latter usage the word "loving" is synonymous with "enjoying" except stronger. It seems to me that the former usage suggests that I always love it, when I get the opportunity, although I may not currently be in the position of enjoying it right now. (Eg. I love pizza.) The latter usage suggests that I am indeed loving it right now, but with the implication that the loving is not static and may change in future. (Eg. I'm loving that book you leant me.)

Anyway, how would you distinguish the verbs that should not be used in the progressive tense from those that can be used this way?

Thanks.

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Usenet · Answer

Yes, the progressive or continuous refers to the -ing form. You are also right when you say that this is used when you are currently doing something. However, there are a number of verbs which are not used in the continuous form, e.g. verbs which express feeling or having opinions such as believe, know, love, hate, etc.; verbs to do with the senses such as taste, see, hear, etc. You would never say "I'm loving you", for example, but I think it is changing where love has the meaning of enjoy.

Usenet · Answer

Is your teacher a native speaker?

Always be wary of rules stated as absolutes, as there are very few such rules in real-world grammar.
Yes, it is.

The progressive tenses are used to describe things that have a beginning, a duration, and an end in the mind of the speaker. "I'm loving it" emphasizes loving something as a thing that begins and continues, and thus functions as an intensive.

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Usenet · Answer

Progressive tenses in English are those formed with the verb "be" plus the present participle of another verb, e.g., "I am loving this" as opposed to "I love this."
Fundamentally, progressive tenses are used when the speaker has in mind the clear notion of a beginning, duration, and end to the action. Simple tenses are used when the duration, beginning, and end of the thing described are nonexistent or unimportant.

"The sun shines every day." = The sun is always there, its shine has no beginning, end, or duration, or these are irrelevant.

"The sun is shining this afternoon." = The shine of the sun is has begun, it is now in progress, and presumably it will end at some point.

Very often progressive tenses are used to describe something in progress when something else happens:

"The sun was shining when I left the house."
It's perfectly valid to say it, as long as the meaning implied by the use of the progressive is the one you intend. In this case, using the progressive emphasizes the action, and thus works as an intensifier. Loving it didn't just happen independently of time, it is an ongoing process, something important enough to consider in its duration.
Exactly.
That's one typical connotation of the simple tenses. Another connotation may be that the beginning, end, and duration of the action described are not relevant in context. Both connotations are variations of the same theme.

To native speakers, use of the progressive tense always implies a sort of bar on a timeline in one way or another, whereas use of the simple tense implies a simple X or line at a specific instant (or something that isn't really marked at any specific point on the timeline at all).
You're overcomplicating things. It just emphasizes the process of loving, thereby intensifying its meaning.
Just about any verb can be used in a progressive tense, if the use of the progressive tense fits the meaning you wish to convey. It's not that certain verbs are forbidden, it's just that certain verbs rarely are used to express meanings that require a progressive construction.

You're generally always free to use either construction, as long as it correctly expresses what you wish to say. That's the key, not the rules in a book. Remember the bar on the timeline.

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Usenet · Answer

Sure you would, if you needed that notion of duration, beginning, or end. It's just that this type of notion is rarely needed with that particular verb in its most common senses.

-- Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Usenet · Answer

No it's not.

"Love" is a non-progressive verb, so is not used in the progressive form in grammatically correct English. See, for example, Swan, Practical English Usage, Second Edition, section 451.2.

Usenet · Answer

Thanks err... "Mxsmanic", I now feel I understand it.

-- James Taylor, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK. PGP key: 3FBE1BF9 To protect against spam, the address in the "From:" header is not valid. In any case, you should reply to the group so that everyone can benefit. If you must send me a private email, use james at oakseed demon co uk.

Usenet · Answer

-- "Throw me that lipstick, darling, I wanna redo my stigmata." +-Jennifer Saunders, "Absolutely Fabulous"

"I'm loving it!" --- Is the sentence grammatical?

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