Common Mistakes - Non-Native Common Mistakes - Native Finding a Teacher Greetings
Business Greetings Inflection and Stress
The present continuous, when implementing the verb to go, with or without the infinitive of a verb, functions effectively identically to the simple future:
I am going to go to Schenectady soon.
I am going to Schenectady tomorrow.
This also works with the verbs to have and to get.
I'm having my birthday tomorrow.
I'm getting my hair cut later this afternoon.
The present continuous, when modified, can represent a generalized or habitual action.
I am going to church nowadays.
I am using an electric razor regularly.
I am doing yoga every day.
The following simple present verbs do not represent habitual action, and generally should not be combined into the present continuous.
I have the ball.
They love this cake.
I get your meaning. (Get, here, means "understand.")
I take it you don't like that. (Take it also means "understand.")
He wants more potato salad.
You deserve better than this.
He understands this book.
I know that guy.
It is considered gauche, non-standard, and even childish, to say, I take the hat. In many cases, this sentence won't even be understood. Instead, one should say, I'm taking the hat, or I will take the hat, or even choose another verb to express the concept, such as I want the hat; That is my hat; May I have my hat back, please? or even the imperative Give me the hat!
Exception:
You take the cake.
This is an idiom which states that the listener is essentially a royal pain. In this instance, the cake is a prize or award for being the craziest or most annoying person imaginable. Thus the verb take is equivalent to win. As you can see, in these exceptions, the meaning of the verb generally changes.
The verb to get functions similarly. It becomes awkward in the simple present tense, and is almost never used by native speakers. For example, never say, I get the chair for you. Instead, say, I'm getting the chair for you, I will get the chair for you, or Let me get the chair for you.
But when used to express a feeling or thought, the simple present of get works perfectly.
I get the feeling you're angry.
The verb I have, when redoubled upon itself or joined with another verb in the infinitive, is synonymous with must. In this case, it is pronounced "haff." The infinitive to have is pronounced normally, creating an ironic dual pronunciation of the same word within the same sentence. Examples:
I have to have it means the same thing as I must have it.
I have to do it means the same thing as I must do it.
I have to take it means the same thing as I must take it.
I have had it, on the other hand, often expresses that the speaker can no longer tolerate something that has been going on for a while. This is often referred to as an idiom, that is, a saying whose meaning is not inherent in the words used to express it. (Have is pronounced normally in this case.)
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