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Huarache Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

work or working

(In these cases, do they mean all same and can be used with no confusion?)

Do you work today?
Are you working today?

When do you work next?
When are you working next?

Can I call you while you work?
Can I call you while you are working?

Do you work? (as in do you have a job?)
Are you working? (same as above)
  

Top answer

1. They mean the same thing, more or less. ) is less polite.

— Anonymous

  • 1.
  • They mean the same thing, more or less.
  • ) is less polite.
  • 2.
  • Same as 1.
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4 Answers
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1. They mean the same thing, more or less. The first one (Do you work today?) is less polite.

2. Same as 1. The meaning is approximately the same, but the first one is less polite.

3. The meaning is approximately the same. The first one is very abrupt and almost rude. The first one actually would rarely be used in real speech. Instead you'd hear: Can I call you at work
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huarache-
Can I call you while you work?
Can I call you while you are working?
These should be: Can I call you at work?

The others are all fine. The meaning is the same within each pair.

You are using the simple present and the continuous present to indicate future time in the first two pairs. That's fine.

CJ
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huaracheDo you work today? Grammatically it is not wrong. But for idiomatic improvement, I would say "Do you have to work today?"
Are you working today? It is fine.
huaracheWhen do you work again
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Anonymous4. The meaning here is not the same. The first one is very rude and offensive.
I don't believe you have to take it in that way always. For example, you are a high school student and you made a new friend. You want to know each other and you ask "do you work?" when you are having a friendly conversation, right?

Thank you everyone!
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