THE BEAUTIFUL MESS WITH THE PROGRESSIVE AND NON PROGRESSIVE TENSES

PROGRESSIVE: GENERAL

1 forms 

Progressive verb forms (also called 'continuous' forms) are made with be + ing. 

I am waiting for the shops to open. (present progressive)

Your suit is being cleaned. (present progressive passive) 

She phoned while I was cooking. (past progressive)

I didn't know how long she had been sitting there. (past perfect 

Will you be going out this evening? (future progressive)

I'd like to be lying on the beach now. (progressive infinitive) 

2 terminology and use 

A progressive form does not simply show the time of an event. It also shows how the speaker sees the event - generally as ongoing and temporary, not completed or permanent. (Because of this, grammars often talk about `progressive aspect' rather than 'progressive tenses'). Compare:

 - I've read your letter. (completed action)

   I've been reading a lot of thrillers recently. (not necessarily completed)

-The Rhine runs into the North Sea. (permanent)

 We'll have to phone the plumber - water's running down the kitchen wall (temporary) 

When a progressive is used to refer to a short momentary action, it often suggests repetition. 

Why are you jumping up and down? 

The door was banging in the wind. 

3 distancing 

Progressive forms can make requests, questions and statements less direct. (They sound less definite than simple forms, because they suggest something temporary and incomplete.)

I'm hoping you can lend me £10. (less definite than I hope . . .) 

What time are you planning to arrive?

I'm looking forward to seeing you again. 

I'm afraid we must be going. 

I was wondering if you had two single rooms. 

Will you be going away at the weekend? 

NON-PROGRESSIVE VERBS

1. verbs not used in progressive ('continuous') forms 

Some verbs are never or hardly ever used in progressive forms.

I like this music. (NOT I'm liking this music.) 

I rang her up because I needed to talk. (NOT ... because I was needing to talk.) 

Some other verbs are not used in progressive forms when they have certain meanings. Compare: 

I'm seeing the doctor at ten o'clock.

I see what you mean. (NOT I'm seeing what you mean.)

Many of these non-progressive verbs refer to states rather than actions. Some refer to mental states (e.g. know, think, believe); some others refer to the use of the senses (e.g. smell, taste).

Modal verbs (e.g. can, must) have no progressive forms.  

2. common non-progressive verbs 

Here is a list of some common verbs which are not often used in progressive forms (or which are not used in progressive forms with certain meanings). 

mental and emotional states 

believe                                         (dis)like                      see (= understand) 

doubt                                           love                            suppose 

feel (have an opinion)                    prefer                         think (= have an opinion) 

hate                                             realise                         understand 

imagine                                        recognise                    want 

know                                           remember                   wish 

use of the senses 

feel                                                  see                              sound 

hear                                                 smell                           taste

communicating and causing reactions

agree                                               impress                        promise 

appear                                             look (= seem)              satisfy 

astonish                                           mean                           seem 

deny                                                please                          surprise 

disagree 

other 

be                                                 deserve                         measure (= have length)

belong                                           fit                                need

concern                                         include                          owe

consist                                           involve                         own

contain                                          lack                              possess

depend                                          matter                           weigh (= have weight) 

3. progressive and non-progressive uses

Compare the progressive and non-progressive uses of some of the verbs listed above. 

- I´m feeling fine. (or I feel fine.) 

 I feel we shouldn't do it. (NOT I'm feeling we shouldn't do it. - feel here = to  have an opinion.) 

- What are you thinking about? 

What do you think of the government? (NOT What are you      thinking of   the government? think here = have an opinion.) 

- I'm seeing Leslie tomorrow. 

I see what you mean. (NOT I'm seeing what you mean. see here =                      understand.)

 - Why are you smelling the meat? Is it bad? 

    Does the meat smell bad? (NOT Is the meat smelling bad?

- I'm just tasting the cake to see if it's OK.

   The cake tastes wonderful. (NOT The cake´s tasting wonderful). 

- The scales broke when I was weighing myself this morning. 

 I weighed 68 kilos three months ago - and look at me now! (NOT I was weighing 68 kilos . . . - weigh here = have weight.) 

Occasionally 'non-progressive' verbs are used in progressive forms in order to  (PARA) emphasise the idea of change or development. 

These days, more and more people prefer / are preferring to take earlier retirement.

The water tastes / is tasting better today. 

As I get older, I remember / I'm remembering less and less. 

I'm liking it here more and more as time goes by. 

Need, want and mean can have future or present perfect progressive uses.

Will you be needing the car this afternoon? 

I've just been invited to Sydney. It's wonderful - I've been wanting to go to Australia for years. 

I've been meaning to tell you about Andrew. He . . . 

4. can see etc 

Can is often used with see, hear, feel, taste, smell, understand and remember to give a kind of progressive meaning, especially in British English.

I can see Sue coming down the road. 

          Can you smell something burning? 

5 -ing forms

Even verbs which are never used in progressive tenses have -ing can be used in other kinds of structure. 

Knowing her tastes, I bought her a large box of chocolates.

I don't like to go to a country without knowing something of the language.

WITH ALWAYS, ETC

We can use always, continually and similar words with a progressive form to mean 'very often'. 

I'm always losing my keys. 

Granny's nice. She's always giving people little presents.

I'm continually running into Paul these days. 

That cat's forever getting shut in the bathroom. 

This structure is used to talk about things which happen very often (perhaps more often than expected), and which are unexpected or unplanned. Compare:

- When Alice comes to see me, I always meet her at the station. (a regular, planned arrangement)

I'm always meeting Mrs Bailiff in the supermarket. (accidental, unplanned meetings) 

         - When I was a child, we always had picnics on Saturdays in the summer.                      (regular, planned)

Her mother was always arranging little surprise picnics and outings. (unexpected, not regular)