Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Chan-Seung Lee]

[dragn]

Hi,

Number 2 is correct. If you want to emphasize that someone is displaying a certain type of behavior at a particular moment, use the continuous aspect.

Now, when I say a certain type of behavior, what I mean is something that could either be a type of behavior or attitude that one could express for a brief period of time or something that could be more of a permanent personality trait.

For example, you could display selfishness in a given situation, but not always act that way. The continuous emphasizes the fact that that's the way someone is behaving at that moment. On the other hand, you could also be a fundamentally selfish person who normally, characteristically displays that trait. The simple present emphasizes the fact that someone really is that way.

So, when you say that Palmer is selfish, we assume you mean that selfishness is one of her basic personality traits. When you say Palmer is being selfish, we assume you mean that's just the way she is behaving now.

Due to the fact that you say that she isn't usually like that, it's obvious you mean it's not her personality.

Note that this principle doesn't necessarily apply to all types of behavior, emotions, etc. It applies mainly to behaviors that could easily be thought of as being either fleeting or permanent.

For example, I wouldn't say that Palmer is being angry today. That sounds quite strange, because we don't normally think of anger as a permanent personality trait. Happily, it's usually a temporary condition.

Hope this answers your question.

dragn

[dragn]

After re-reading the last part of my post, I realized that probably sounds a little confusing.

The main point is that we usually only make this grammatical distinction (continuous or simple) for behaviors that can be either fleeting or permanent. For such behaviors, use the continuous to talk about the way someone is being now. Use the simple to talk about the way they always are.

This is the part where other teachers jump in and help clarify somewhat what I'm trying to say.

dragn

[rice07]

Hi Dragn!

if you see a mistake in something you have written and to which no one has yet replied, you can always click "edit"(one of the four gadgets which are quote, edit, x and ! on the upper right position of your posts) and fix the original post instead of making another one. (You can do that even if someone has answered you, but in that case they may not see whatever you corrected.)

By the way, that's a great response.