Try this;
I _____________________ my students at shopping malls during the holidays.
A) am always meeting
B) always meet
The answer is A.
Why?????
Because I mean that I'm always bumping into (meeting accidentally) my students whenever I visit shopping malls.
HOWEVER, if I say "I always meet my students at shopping malls during the holidays", that means I always make arrangements or plans to meet them.
________________________________________________
We use "always VERB+ing" (not "always VERB") for certain situations;
1) to mean 'very often', perhaps more often than we expected.
2) something that is unexpected or unplanned or not regular.
E.g. :
I'm always losing my keys. (very often)
My pupils are always giving me presents. (very often+unexpected)
We don't use "always VERB+ing" for something that's regular or planned.
E.g:
I always meet my students at school. (regular/planned arrangement)
We always spend our holidays together. (regular + planned)
There are a lot of common errors in English that can be encountered among my students, friends, colleagues and other Malaysians. I usually don't have the heart to tell them upfront as it might hurt their feelings. Besides, I don't want them to think that I think I'm too good, because I am not that good. In fact, I still have a lot to learn. Hopefully, this blog will help us to correct our errors so that we could practise good and standard English together.
Sunday, 15 December 2013
Sunday, 1 December 2013
"MUSTN'T" or "CAN'T"? (in expressing improbability)
He's a nice boy. It can't be him stealing the pencil! - CORRECT
He's a nice boy. It musn't be him stealing the pencil! - WRONG
*Must is NOT often used to express certainty in NEGATIVE clauses.
It is used to express the conclusion that something is certain or highly probable.
E.g.,
He's a bad boy. It must be him stealing the pencil! - CORRECT!
He's a nice boy. It musn't be him stealing the pencil! - WRONG
*Must is NOT often used to express certainty in NEGATIVE clauses.
It is used to express the conclusion that something is certain or highly probable.
E.g.,
He's a bad boy. It must be him stealing the pencil! - CORRECT!
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