Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[eagleflych]

Hi everybody:

I've seen the negative sentence below in a book and I've not understood it's meaning. Please help me.

----"She is not reading the book right now."

I've thought three possible explanations:

1. The process of reading the book doesn't exist right now. (The speaker is hinting that she may have already read the book or may start reading the book in the future, etc)

2. The state of not reading the book exists right now. (The speaker simply is stating the fact of "not reading the book" and doesn't mean any hints)

3. The state of not reading the book exists right now. (The speaker is hinting that the state of not reading the book will end in the not very distant future and she will start reading the book in the not very distant future)

Which explanation above is right?

Thanks a lot in advance.

[pugachevV]

It simply means that she is not reading the book now.

Nothing else is implied, although there may be several possibilities.