Lecture 9: Present Progressive and Past Progressive 3. Contrast between past progressive and simple past 4. Progressive aspect and verbal meaning

1. Present progressive (1) To denote an action in progress at the moment of speaking e.g. You are listening to the teacher. Note the difference between the simple present and the present progressive. e.g. He lives in Wuhan. (a permanent meaning) He is now living in Wuhan. (a temporary meaning)

1. Present progressive (2) To denote an action in progress at a period of time including the present, but not necessarily at the moment of speaking. e.g. Mary is learning English while her sister is doing French. Note that the present progressive when accompanied by an adverbial (always, continually, constantly, for ever) often shows an emotional coloring. e.g. She is always borrowing money and forgetting to pay me back

1. Present progressive (3) To denote a future happening according to a definite plan or arrangement e.g. He is arriving this time tomorrow. She is leaving for Shanghai in a few days. The present progressive used to refer to the future is limited to such verbs as arrive, come, dine, do, give, go, have, join, land, leave, meet, move, play, return, sleep, spend, start, stay, stop, take, etc.

1. Present progressive (4) To denote other meanings A---to denote an action in the immediate past, which is expressed by communicative verbs such as tell, talk, say, etc. e.g. You don’t believe it? You know I’m telling the truth. (=I told the truth just now.) B---to express more politely, which is expressed by such verbs as hope, wonder. e.g. I am hoping you’ll give us some advice. I am wondering if I may have a word with you.

1. Present progressive C---to express an action or behavior when used with some adjectives, not to express state or emotion. e.g. He is being stupid. (This time he behaved stupidly, but he is not stupid.) CP. He is stupid. (=He is a stupid person.) * He is being happy. (happy ----state or motion)

2. Past progressive (1) To denote an action in progress at a definite point or period of past time e.g. What were you doing yesterday at seven p.m.?   (2)  To denote a past habitual action The habitual action denoted by the past progressive refers to an action that occurred at a certain point of time temporarily, in contrast with the past habit denoted by the simple past. e.g. He was getting up at five every day that week.

2. Past progressive (3)  To express emotional feelings or coloring when modified by always, constantly, continually, forever. e.g. He was always ringing me up. She was always changing her mind. (4)  To denote futurity in the past e.g. They were leaving a few days later. This use is also found in some adverbial clauses of time or condition. e.g. He told me to wake him up if he was sleeping.

2. Past progressive (5) To make polite requests and express hypothetical meaning I hope you can send me (express directly) some books. I hoped you could send me some books. (polite) I am hoping you can send me some books. (politer) I was hoping you could send me some books. (much politer)

2. Past progressive To express hypothetical meaning, the past progres-sive only occurs in certain conditional clauses and in sub-clauses after I wish/ I’d rather/ It’s time, etc. I wish they were not talking so loudly. (=they did not talk…) I’d rather they were going at once. (=they went…) It’s time they were leaving. (=they left…) If they were leaving (=were to leave/should leave) tonight, I’d like to go with them.

3. Contrast between past progressive and simple past A---To denote an action in completion, we use the simple past; to denote an action in progress, we use the past progressive. e.g. I was reading a novel yesterday. (unfinished) I read a novel yesterday. (finished)  B---To state a mere fact, we use the simple past; to lay stress on the duration of the action, we use the past progressive. e.g. It rained all night. (mere fact) It was raining all night. (duration)

3. Contrast between past progressive and simple past C---When two actions co-occur in a sentence, the action of shorter duration is to be denoted by the simple past, while that of longer duration by the past progressive. e.g. I broke a glass while I was cooking the dinner. I was listening to the radio when you rang me up. D---The time sequence of the two is different. e.g. When we arrived, she was making some fresh coffee. When we arrived, she made some fresh coffee.

4. Progressive aspect and verbal meaning 4.1 Dynamic verbs 4.2 Stative verbs 4.3 Stative verbs with progressive aspect

4.1 Dynamic verbs A---durative verbs, that is, verbs that refer to actions of duration; e.g. He is working in a factory. B---transitional verbs, that is, verbs that denote a change of state; e.g. He is getting old. C---momentary verbs, that is, verbs denoting actions of very short duration. e.g. He is knocking at the door.

4.2 Stative verbs A)have, be We have (* are having) friends all over the world. B)belong to, cost, matter, own, etc. This car belongs (* is belonging) to her. C)words of senses, such as hear, see, feel, smell, taste, etc. Do you smell anything unusual? D)words that refer to a feeling, a state of mind or an opinion, such as believe, consider (=believe), forget, hate, hope, know, like, love, mean, remember, see (=understand), suppose, think, understand, want, wish, wonder, etc. Now you see (=understand) what I mean. I believe you’ll pass Band-8 examination if you work hard.

4.3 Stative verbs with progressive meaning The above mentioned stative verbs can sometimes be used dynamically. Pay attention to the meaning in the following sentences. He is being foolish. (=is acting foolishly) We are having a wonderful time. (=are enjoying ourselves) When I called on him, he was having his dinner. (=was eating his dinner) He is seeing the sights. (=visiting the sights) I am hearing lectures at the university. (=attending lectures…)

Exercise: p194(11D) p199(11E/11F/11G) Thank you.