Dear Paticia,

You wrote:
> To my mind Simple would be what seems 'endless
> present time' and Progressive, the present action which
> 'has to have an end..'
> They feed the lions at quarter past two every day.
>
My reply: We know that when the park closes within next four years, we will
not feed them any more. At this situation, shall we use the Simple Present?
Personally, I think we do.

For another example, now I live in Hong Kong. But when I am old I will go to
Australia to live with my family. Knowing my living in HK has an end, shall
I say "I am living in Hong Kong"?

Logically, everything will have an end, which is known by normal persons. In
this case, we will not use Simple Present at all?

You seem to replace the difficulty with impossibility, replacing the
question of present with that of endless. But how to define 'endless'? How
do native English speakers predict the action is endless?

Since emails cannot handle a long discussion, you are invited to use the
following forum:
http://www.englishtense.com/forum.asp


Shun
englishtense.com
===========


----- Original Message -----
From: "Patricia Reeve-De Becker" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 2:58 AM
Subject: Re: How to define a 'present action'?


> Dear shun,
> Quote:
> <(For the time being, shall we skip the difference between Simple Present
and
> Present Progressive for a while?)>
>
> There's no need to skip the difference as I feel you've just defined it.
>
> <"Most confusing, 'present time' seems endless, but present action has to
have
> an end..">
> To my mind
> Simple would be what seems 'endless present time' and
> Progressive, the present action which 'has to have an end..'
> e.g.
> It's quarter past two and they're feeding the lions at the Zoo - Let's
go...
> They feed the lions at quarter past two every day. Let's go tomorrow.
>
> What do others think?
> Or have I misunderstood you
>
> shun Tang wrote:
>
> > How to define a 'present action'?
> >
> > My reason why I ask is, if we can define it, we may explain the Simple
> > Present tense.
> > (For the time being, shall we skip the difference between Simple Present
and
> > Present Progressive for a while?)
> > A present action seems to be very basic knowledge, but it is most
puzzling.
> > We would say that, logically, the present action happens at the present.
> > Since the present time is moving continually, however, it is totally
> > uncertain. So, a present action is very hard to define.
> >
> > Most confusing, 'present time' seems endless, but present action has to
have
> > an end. Therefore, a present time is different to a present action.
> >
> > How do English native speakers split the nuance? Or does the present
action
> > have nothing to do with Simple Present tense at all?
> >
> > Shun
> > englishtense.com
> >
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> >
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>
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>

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