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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Present Continuous Help
Present Continuous Help
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suzanne95212
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Present Continuous Help
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Can someone tell me why we use present continuous in the following examples?
"A scientist analyzes facts before doing experiments."
"A doctor assesses a patient before giving medication."
When I revisited the common rules for present continuous, they didn �t seem to apply to this situation.
Thank you!
Suzanne
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28 Aug 2012
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mariebichereau
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Dear Suzanne,
I have the explanation you need I think.
In both examples you gave, �doing � and �giving � aren �t considered as present continuous, they �re gerunds. Gerunds always come after a preposition (when mentioning an action verb obviously).
examples: I hurt my knee while running (= I was running)
I have breakfast before getting up (=before I get up)
It is not a tense, just another grammar rule. ;)
Hope it helps.
Marie
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28 Aug 2012
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yanogator
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Yes, Suzanne, the Present Continuous has a form of "to be". Bruce |
28 Aug 2012
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midoforever
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Hi Suzi, both verbs here come after a prepositon so they �re gerunds actiong like nouns. they sound like pressent cont. but they �re not. All the best. |
29 Aug 2012
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guorkhan
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A scientist analyzes facts before doing experiments.
there is an ommition here I think;
A scientist analyzes facts before s/he does experiments.
A doctor assesses a patient before s/he gives medication
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29 Aug 2012
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koala_eukaliptus
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midoforever is right, this is not a present continuous, just a gerund.
We use gerunds (verbs ending in ing) after prepositions.
I am tired of working (example)
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29 Aug 2012
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suzanne95212
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Thank you for all your help! I found some worksheets on the gerund that helped me. You guys are awesome :) |
31 Aug 2012
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