皆さんこんにちは。
ILC国際語学センターです。

John先生のミニレッスン、第6回目は「Progressive Verb Phrases」についてです。

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Progressive Verb Phrases
A common problem Japanese students encounter when expressing themselves in English is the use of the progressive (or continuous) tense. Remember, in English the progressive tense form of verbs indicates a present ongoing action at the time of speaking such as “working on a project” or a future short-term action, such as “going out for dinner after work”.
In both cases, the idea of short-term or temporary condition is important; some kind of ending of the event is expected in a relatively short period of time. This is probably the main source of the problems Japanese students have with using this correctly in English. There is a wider application of this tense in Japanese. In English, other verb phrases would be used in some cases.
Typical problems include the use of the progressive for long-term, or regular, activities, such as living somewhere, working at a company. Students often say, “I am living in Tokyo…” or “I am working at Company Name…”. These should be expressed in the present tense in English: “I work at ILC.” or “I live in Kamakura.” Because these are regular ongoing activities, not short-term, project-like, activities.
Another common problem is the use of the progressive to indicate a long-term state resulting from an event such as knowing (or learning) something, or being married. Students might say, “I am knowing …(something)…” rather than the required present tense “I know…(something)…”, or “I am marrying…” to describe the state of their situation, rather than “I am married…” using the predicate adjective form. Similarly, for ownership, “Are you owning a car?” should be “Do you own a car?”, again using the present tense.
All the above situations can be expressed in Japanese using the “…ている” form, which is the progressive form, so naturally, the student might assume the same English verb phrase form for similar situations.
Sometimes this type of problem does not reveal itself because the situation fits reasonably well into the requirements of progressive tense usage. For example, from the example above about living somewhere, I always need to check if that place is a company dormitory. If it is, then the progressive is okay because we think that at some point in the not-so-distant future, they will move out of the dormitory, so it can be considered a short-term activity.
Similarly, in ice-breaking situations, the student will often ask a visitor to the company “Where are you living?” This is where the problem changes from verb tense, which is correctly used, to word choice. The question should be “Where are you staying?” indicating a short-term activity—probably at a hotel with the word “stay” and not the long-term with the word “live”.

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次回は2月下旬に更新予定です。

※John先生が開発したグローバルリーダー向け英語プログラムは、様々なビジネスシチュエーションに特化した英語スキルに焦点をあて、論理性と説得力のある英語力を養成します。
詳細はこちらからお問い合わせください。

bana_gllt2

担当教師

sennsei

John Mukts (ILC企業研修主任)

日本での英語教授歴20年以上、数々の企業にてビジネスパーソンやグローバルリーダー向け英語研修を担当。ILCの主任教師としてプレゼンテーション・ミーティングなどのビジネスに焦点をおいたGLLT(Global Leadership Language Training)コース開発やオリジナルテキスト開発に従事。