They are gathering more data as we speak

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi, what is the difference between these two sentences:

  1. The scientists are collecting more data as we speak.
  2. The scientists are collecting more data as we’re speaking.

Many thanks, Torsten

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“As we speak” is the accepted idiom, meaning “right now”.

“As we’re speaking” sounds pretty odd to me - the only way it would really make sense is if the scientists are collecting data on the speakers themselves - maybe counting how many times they say “uhh” or “like”.

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I agree with you and asked the question because I heard the anchor woman say ‘… as we are speaking…’ on the BBC worldservice this morning.

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