Hi, it seems that more and more people start to use the modal verb in a progressive form. I’ve just come across this phrase:
…if you are wanting to work in high profile areas
Do you put want into continuous forms too?[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEFL listening discussions: How does Dr Beech characterize the assistantship?[YSaerTTEW443543]
Hi Torsten
I don’t think using want in a continuous form is anything new, it’s just less common than the simple form.
Personally, I think I’d be more likely to use want in the present perfect continuous and less likely to use it in present continuous.
Amy
Hi Torsten,
In your sentence wanting seems acceptable especially as it is used with another verb - wanting to work. I don’t think it would work with a direct object -[color=red]Xwhat sort of job are you wanting?X. The continuous form conveys the idea of choosing and wanting at the same time when used with a following infinitive.
Alan
Hi Torsten
Michael Swan suggests:
1- What were you [color=blue]wanting to say?
2- He seems to be[color=blue] understanding French more these days.
3- [color=blue]Me and my friends may go tomorrow.
are only so-called mistakes in English. :shock: …means perfectly OK!
Tom
Hi Tom
You’ve got another double post. (See also my comment in the “try+infinitive” thread.)
Did you notice anything unusual when you posted this time?
Amy
No, Amy, nothing unusual. I just wrote it a few minutes back and pushed the submit button!
I hope the system is not haunted tonight! :shock:
Run for it…!
Tom
This is what I was talking about but didn’t state clearly. Using want in the present continuous sounds strange with a direct object, but I don’t find using the present perfect continuous terribly unusual:
“I’ve been wanting that job for ages.”
Amy
Amy, would you like to comment on sentence number 02 and 03 I wrote in my post? Do you agree with Swan?
Tom
I wouldn’t go so far as to categorize 3 as “perfectly OK”. That’s definitely something you should avoid like the plague in more formal or written English. I would never suggest learning it — not even for “informal” usage.
Amy
1- What were you [color=red]wanting to say?
2- He seems to be [color=red]understanding French more these days.
3- [color=red]Me and my friends may go tomorrow.
I am really sorry that I did not use the third sentence correctly. Swan suggests:
1- My friends and me…(is OK).
Amy, why do you think Swan calls these structures OK? If you advise me to avoid them like the plague, there must be some weight in it…but why does Swan…?
Tom
Hi Tom,
Dr Grammar prefers My friends and I but in conversational English most people would say My friends and me exactly the same as we say: It’s me … rather than It is I…
Alan
Hi Tom
I’d say he says they’re OK because they are often used in informal speech. Therefore, he sees it as OK for informal use. Do you have a quote from Swan specifically stating that he feels a sentence such as “Me and my friends are…” would be “perfectly OK” in formal and/or written English?
Amy
The red is Swan and Blue is Tom! I assumed that if something is not a mistake it is perfectly OK. :shock:
Sorry! That was my way of putting it. :shock:
He calls them ‘So-called mistakes’ in his latest version of ’ Practical English Usage’.
Tom
Hi Tom
I just think he calls certain things “so-called mistakes” because he doesn’t view them as errors in all situations. What does he have to say about the word ain’t? That’s another word that’s widely used. Is it an error or not according to Swan? And what do you think?
Amy
[color=red]ain’t
He simply calls it sub-standard and so do I? Amy, I have no opinions of my own. No depth in English. I am extremely lucky to meet you people here in the forum whose cooperation and support beggar description. I believe in what I am told by you people. :lol: or what I read in M.Swan’s. I have also seen Mr. Micawber quoting Swan once or twice. Well, he is not, as far as my opinion is concerned, less than Swan himself.
Tom
[color=red]ain’t
He simply calls it sub-standard and so do I? Amy, I have no opinions of my own. No depth in English. I am extremely lucky to meet you people here in the forum whose cooperation and support beggar description. I believe in what I am told by you people. :lol: or what I read in M.Swan’s. I have also seen Mr. Micawber quoting Swan once or twice. Well, he is not, as far as my opinion is concerned, less than Swan himself.
Amy, don’t you have Practical English Usage, by Swan? Which is your favourite reference book?
Tom