| Verb |
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Notes |
| appear |
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One meaning,"seem,"
is non-continuous. Another meaning,
"be somewhere as a performer, speaker, etc.," is continuous and may be used in present perfect progressive:
Some great bands have been
appearing at Club Chaos recently.
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| be |
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Normally, be is non-continuous,
but it also has another meaning (used with adjectives): "behave." This meaning
is continuous and may be used with present perfect progressive:
The children have been being
naughty all afternoon. Wait until their father
comes home!
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| feel |
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One meaning for feel
is something like "think" or "believe."
Another meaning is something like "touch." A third meaning describes one's physical
or mental condition. The first meaning is non-continuous. The others are
continuous and may be used in present perfect progressive:
Joey says that he has a fever,
but I've been feeling his forehead for the past
20 minutes and his temperature seems normal to
me.
Has Carla been feeling sick
lately? She looks very pale and she doesn't seem
to have much energy.
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| have |
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The normal meaning for have,
"possess," is non-continuous, but it has several
other meanings which are continuous:
(1) "have a good (etc.)
time" (= [not] enjoy oneself"
Yes, I've been having a very
good time. Judy's parties are always a lot of
fun.
(2) "give birth"
How long will Jessica be in
the delivery room? She's been having her baby for a very long time!
(3) "be involved in ___
" (a meeting, discussion, bath, etc.)
Don't go into the conference
room. The Accounting Department has been having an important meeting there since 8:30 AM.
(4) "eat or drink"
Let's eat in a good restaurant
tonight. We've been having too many meals at home lately!
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| imagine |
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One meaning for imagine
is something like
"guess" or "suppose"
and is non-continuous.
Another meaning is something like "pretend"; it may be used in continuous tenses:
A: What have you been doing?
B: I've been imagining that
I'm rich and don't have to work!
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| include |
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One meaning for include
shows the things
that are part of another
thing; this meaning
is non-continuous. Another meaning is something like
"put in" or "enclose" or
"add to"
and may be used in continuous tenses:
Have you been including receipts
with your travel expense reports? If you haven't, you won't be reimbursed for many of your
expenses.
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| mind |
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The most common meaning for
mind is like "object to"; it's non-continuous. Another meaning
is something like "obey"; it may be used with continuous tenses:
Billy, have you been minding
your mother?
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| remember |
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One meaning for remember,
"recall," is non-continuous. Another meaning describes the mental action of reviewing memories; it may be used in continuous tenses:
Today, as I look at the photos
we took on our trip to Greece, I've been remembering the many wonderful things we saw and did.
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| see |
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The most common meaning for
see is similar to "look" and is
non-continuous. Another meaning is something like
"go with" (have regular dates with); it's
continuous:
Karl has been seeing Ellen
a lot lately. Are they going steady?
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| smell |
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The physical action of using
one's nose to detect an odor or fragrance is
continuous. The "linking verb" meaning
(where you describe how something
smells) is not:
I've been smelling something
burning for the past few minutes. What's on fire?
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| taste |
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The physical action of "testing" something by eating or drinking
a little of it is continuous. The "linking verb" meaning (where you describe how
something tastes) is not:
Who's been tasting the cookies?
There were two dozen of them five minutes ago,
and now there are only 20!
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| think |
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One meaning for think
is something like "believe" or "have
an opinion"; it's not used in continuous
tenses. Another meaning describes
a mental action; it's
continuous:
I've been thinking about Alfredo
all day. Do you think I should call him?
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