continuous tenses

◊ GRAMMAR

A continuous tense contains a form of the verb `be' and a present participle. Continuous tenses are used when talking about temporary situations at a particular point in time. See entry at ↑ Tenses.

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◊ dynamic verbs

Verbs which are used in continuous tenses are sometimes called dynamic verbs.

The video industry has been developing rapidly.

He'll be working nights next week.

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◊ stative verbs

There are a number of verbs which are not normally used in continuous tenses. Verbs of this kind are sometimes called stative verbs.

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The verbs in the following list are not normally used in continuous tenses when they are used with their commonest or basic meaning.

admire, adore, appear, astonish, be , believe, belong to, concern, consist of , contain, deserve, desire, despise, detest, dislike, envy, exist, fit, forget, hate, have, hear, imagine, impress, include, interest, involve, keep, know, lack, last, like, look like, love, matter, mean, owe, own, please, possess, prefer, reach, realize, recognize, remember, resemble, satisfy, see, seem, sound, stop, suppose, surprise, survive, suspect, understand, want , wish

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◊ 'be'

`Be' is not usually used as a main verb in continuous tenses. However, you use it in continuous tenses when you are describing someone's behaviour at a particular time.

You're being naughty.

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◊ 'have'

`Have' is not used in continuous tenses to talk about possession. However, you can use it in continuous tenses to indicate that someone is doing something. See entry at ↑ have.

We were just having a philosophical discussion.

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◊ other verbs

Some verbs have very specific senses in which they are not used in continuous tenses. For example, `smell' is sometimes used in continuous tenses when it means `to smell something deliberately', but not when it means `to smell of something'.

She was smelling her bunch of flowers.

The air smelled sweet.

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The following verbs are not used in continuous tenses when they have the meanings indicated:

depend (be related to), feel (have an opinion), measure (have length), smell (of something), taste (of something), think (have an opinion), weigh (have weight)

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