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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Present Progressive and Simple Form

Hi folks, I would be glad if you could answer my question Emotion: smile

Is it possible to use present progressive and the simple form in one sentence? I know it's correct to use simple past and past progressive (like "Sue and Robert were just cooking dinner when someone rang at the door."), but is it also correct to say this in the present? E.g. "Sue and Robert are just cooking dinner when someone rings at the door." If not, what would be correct if I want to stress the present tense?

Thank you :-)
  

Top answer

I can't see anything grammatically wrong with it, however I can't think of a time when I might use it. If I was doing a commentary on something perhaps.

— Dave Phillips

  • I can't see anything grammatically wrong with it, however I can't think of a time when I might use it.
  • If I was doing a commentary on something perhaps.
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4 Answers
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I can't see anything grammatically wrong with it, however I can't think of a time when I might use it. If I was doing a commentary on something perhaps.
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Ok, thanks a lot! It is indeed meant to be a kind of commentary, like a description of a comic strip.
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Anonymous"Sue and Robert are cooking dinner when someone rings at the door."
Grammatically it is not wrong. But syntactically, I believe it makes more sense if this context was narrated in past progress than present because "you" are describing something you observed.
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I agree with DimSum. You are really not commentating but narrating, therefore I would consider using narrative tenses.
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