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Matfever Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

IS THIS FOR..

I saw 2 boxes. One was opening and the other was closed.
I pointed in the box which was opening.

Can I say in that situation:

Is this for delivering?
  

Top answer

I saw 2 boxes. One was open and the other was closed. I pointed to the box which was open .

— Mister Micawber

  • I saw 2 boxes.
  • One was open and the other was closed.
  • I pointed to the box which was open .
  • "
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18 Answers
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I saw 2 boxes. One was open and the other was closed.
I pointed to the box which was open.
"Is this to be delivered?"
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Mister MicawberI saw 2 boxes. One was open and the other was closed.
Why can't "opening" be used?
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'Opening' is an action now, but that is not the case with your sentence: the box was opened previously and it is now in an open state.
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Mister Micawber'Opening' is an action now, but that is not the case with your sentence: the box was opened previously and it is now in an open state.
okay...
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matfever I still think it's correct too, don't you think?
No, I don't. If your teacher says it is, then look for a new teacher.
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Mister Micawberthen look for a new teacher.
If my teacher says it is, it is.
Mister Micawberthen look for a new teacher.
Who do you think you are?
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matfeverI saw 2 boxes. One was opening and the other was closed.
Was the box actually in the process of opening when you saw it? Was it opening by itself, without anyone opening it? If that was the case, then you can say "it was opening." Since this seems very unlikely (boxes do not generally open themselves while we watch), I believe Mr. Mica
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khoffWas the box actually in the process of opening when you saw it? Was it opening by itself, without anyone opening it? If that was the case, then you can say "it was opening." Since this seems very unlikely (boxes do not generally open themselves while we watch)
Yeah. But we usually say "something is happening" when you are seeing it, right? So what I want t
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Okay, I should not have ventured to guess what Mr. Micawber thinks -- I was attempting to defend him from your "who do you think you are?", but ended up just making him look uppity, which was not my intention at all. (Sorry, Mr. M! I'll get out of this, and I'll stay out of it next time!)

Getting back to the box -- if, when you saw the box, it had already been opened, and was just sitti
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Calm down.

There is nothing in khoff's reply that implied she or Mr. Micawber was looking down on anyone.

He said that if your teacher insists you that "opening" was right, then you should find another teacher. Every one of us would agree with that, unless it really was the case that the box was opening all by itself, like a flower unfurling its leaves.

If the box was a
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