Simple present/present progressive with 'daily'

Question

It seems natural to say that:It is getting better every day/dailyHowever, could this be grammatically incorrect? Doesn't 'every day' emphasise on a habit?Shouldn't it be 'It gets better every day'? or alternatively just say 'It is getting better'Besides, 'is getting better every day/daily' has fewer search results on Google than 'gets better every day'.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

It is getting better every day/daily

However, could this be grammatically incorrect?-- No; as it stands, it is OK. Doesn't 'every day' emphasise on a habit?-- Not necessarily.

Shouldn't it be 'It gets better every day'? or alternatively just say 'It is getting better'-- Those are also possible sentences.

Besides, 'is getting better every day/daily' has fewer search results on Google than 'gets better every day'.-- Google is a slippery source of confirmation.

Anonymous · Answer

Mister MicawberHowever, could this be grammatically incorrect?-- No; as it stands, it is OK. Doesn't 'every day' emphasise on a habit?-- Not necessarily.

Is this an exception? As I see 'It gets better every day' in the form of a timeline as --x--x--x--x--x-- where x is the action 'gets better' in every single day. 'Is getting better' as x is simply weird.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Not an exception; merely another use of 'every day'. Your timeline is fine.  What's the problem?

Ceph · Answer

Wouldn't you say --x--x--x--x-- where x is the daily action 'is getting better' weird?
It is like day 1 - is getting better, day 2 - is getting better, day 3 - is getting better and so forth. Instead of day 1 - gets better, day 2 - gets better again and so forth.

The timeline for 'it is getting better all the time' i.e. xxxxxxxxx makes much more sense because it is continuous.

Though 'is getting better every day' sounds fine to me it does not appear logically to me and I am trying to find a logically reasoning for it.

What other verbs can be used in such a way? What about 'it is processing/moving every day'?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Wouldn't you say --x--x--x--x-- where x is the daily action 'is getting better' weird?-- No, not at all.

It is like day 1 - is getting better, day 2 - is getting better, day 3 - is getting better and so forth. Instead of day 1 - gets better, day 2 - gets better again and so forth.-- I don't know what you are on about here. 'Getting better' is a durational action. It is 'analogue', not 'digital'.

The timeline for 'it is getting better all the time' i.e. xx makes much more sense because it is continuous.-- So is the timeline with 'every day' - just on a smaller scale.

Though 'is getting better every day' sounds fine to me it does not appear logically to me and I am trying to find a logically reasoning for it.-- Language is not necessarily logical... though this case seems logical enough to me.

What other verbs can be used in such a way? What about 'it is processing/moving every day'?--

She is improving every day.
The nights are lengthening every day (and how's that for logic?!)
I'm aging every day.
My watch is becoming slower every day.
The radioactivity is increasing every day.
etc., etc.

Anonymous · Answer

Mister MicawberWouldn't you say --x--x--x--x-- where x is the daily action 'is getting better' weird?-- No, not at all.

So I guess it is fine to say 'I am walking every day' or 'It is moving every day' instead of 'I walk every day' or 'It moves every day'?

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html says (under USE 4) for --x--x--x--x-- repetitive action with present continuous we use 'always' and that it has a meaning like the simple present. But 'it is getting better every day' doesn't have 'always. 'It is always getting better every time/day' is logical in the --x--x--x--x-- sense.

Mister MicawberThe timeline for 'it is getting better all the time' i.e. xx makes much more sense because it is continuous.-- So is the timeline with 'every day' - just on a smaller scale.

So that means on each and every day there is a continuous action of 'getting better'; therefore a chain of consecutive continuous actions?

Mister Micawber · Answer

So I guess it is fine to say 'I am walking every day' or 'It is moving every day' instead of 'I walk every day' or 'It moves every day'?-- Well, I can't imagine what you have in mind as 'moving', but as for 'walking', it wouldn't be continous; I presume you stop to sleep at night.

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html says (under USE 4) for --x--x--x--x-- repetitive action with present continuous we use 'always' and that it has a meaning like the simple present. But 'it is getting better every day' doesn't have 'always. 'It is always getting better every time/day' is logical in the --x--x--x--x-- sense.-- 'We' don't always use 'always' of course. What would make you think that that adverb is required?

Mister MicawberThe timeline for 'it is getting better all the time' i.e. xx makes much more sense because it is continuous.-- So is the timeline with 'every day' - just on a smaller scale.

So that means on each and every day there is a continuous action of 'getting better'; therefore a chain of consecutive continuous actions?-- Right. And it doesn't stop to sleep at night.

Anonymous · Answer

Mister Micawberhttp://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html says (under USE 4) for --x--x--x--x-- repetitive action with present continuous we use 'always' and that it has a meaning like the simple present. But 'it is getting better every day' doesn't have 'always. 'It is always getting better every time/day' is logical in the --x--x--x--x-- sense.-- 'We' don't always use 'always' of course. What would make you think that that adverb is required? So that means on each and every day there is a continuous action of 'getting better'; therefore a chain of consecutive continuous actions?-- Right. And it doesn't stop to sleep at night.

To summarise all that you have said, basically 'is getting better every day' is an prime example of Use 4 on the Englishpage website. Correct?

Mister Micawber · Answer

No.  It's #2.

Ceph · Answer

Sorry, but I think there're some contradictions with the answers.

Mister MicawberWouldn't you say --x--x--x--x-- where x is the daily action 'is getting better' weird?-- No, not at all.

I asked you if 'is getting better' is weird as a daily action you told me that isn't. The impression you gave me with your answers as above is that it's actually Use 4 with --x--x--x--x-- where x is the action on every day.

Mister Micawberhttp://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html says (under USE 4) for --x--x--x--x-- repetitive action with present continuous we use 'always' and that it has a meaning like the simple present. But 'it is getting better every day' doesn't have 'always. 'It is always getting better every time/day' is logical in the --x--x--x--x-- sense. -- 'We' don't always use 'always' of course. What would make you think that that adverb is required?

Mister Micawber This answer of yours also imply that it is of Use 4 as I was talking about Use 4 - present continuous with 'always' for repetitive actions.

Mister MicawberThe timeline for 'it is getting better all the time' i.e. xx makes much more sense because it is continuous.-- So is the timeline with 'every day' - just on a smaller scale. So that means on each and every day there is a continuous action of 'getting better'; therefore a chain of consecutive continuous actions?-- Right. And it doesn't stop to sleep at night.

I mentioned a chain a consecutive continuous actions. Actions that maintains through the whole day for every single day and you agreed. "Consecutive' implies there's more than one action, Use 2 is one long continuous action. Moreover, if it is Use 2 I don't see the difference between 'all the time' and 'every day'. What smaller scale were you talking about?

Simple present/present progressive with 'daily'

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