Tony writes:
We have always been taught that verbs like (see and hear) are not used in the continuous or progressive, e.g: I am seeing a tree. or -I am hearing their voice.
However, I often hear sentences like:
-We are seeing a reply now. (from a football match)
-You are hearing four sounds now. Can you determine what they are? (from a TV program).
I am hearing them also, and I am reading them, and they are coming from my students, who are using continuous-tense verbs like there is not going to be a tomorrow, and it is driving me crazy!
It's obviously not just "sense" verbs like "hear" and "see" that people use with the continuous tense. In some cases, continuous is absolutely necessary: I am typing this answer. This is a contrast with the present tense, which describes something I may generally do: I type my answers on an iMac computer keyboard.
Preference for continuous tense seems to be a trend, especially among younger persons. (Of course, at 65 I think everyone is a younger person.) I do notice it among my students. They prefer to say "I will be graduating in April," rather than "I will graduate in April."
In the present continuous (I am typing this answer), we don't have a clear sense of when the action will stop. The future continuous is also vague about the time it will take to something: I will be planning my courses next week. Maybe I'll do it in a day; more likely it will take all week and part of the following week.
But when my students say "I will be graduating in April," I know that graduating doesn't take that long. You go to convocation, pick up your cap and gown, march into the auditorium, listen to some speeches, pick up your diploma, get your photo taken by your proud family, and off you go after just a couple of hours.
However, I don't expect my opposition to the continuous tense to have an effect. This is a long-term language change. Maybe my students aren't thinking about it, or maybe they really do think of graduation as a long, uncertain process.
When I think about it, the trend is older than I'd realized. After all, a classic 1944 love song promises us:
I'll be seeing you
in all the old familiar places...
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