Present Progressive Tense and Showing Annoyance

 

Samantha Fish is an American songwriter and blues¹ singer. In her song Somebody's Always Trying, she complains about other, unnamed women. She accuses them of trying to take her boyfriend away from her.

Somebody's always trying to get him to change his mind…

Somebody's always trying their best to lead him astray…

Somebody's always trying to take my baby away…

Today, we will explore the grammar behind the words from this song. To be more exact, we will explore how English speakers use the progressive² tense to show dissatisfaction or make a complaint.

But first, we will provide a few helpful definitions³.

Repeated actions or everyday activities

Simple verbs are the most common kinds of verbs in conversation.

English speakers often use the simple present tense when talking about repeated or common, everyday activities. For example, you might hear a child say, “I study for one hour every day.”

Often, English speakers direct your attention to the repeated nature of their statements by using the simple present tense with the adverb “always.” For example, an office worker might say, “I always wake up at 6 in the morning.”

If you would like to learn more about how English speakers use the word always, you should read another Everyday Grammar story on our website, learningenglish.voanews.com.

The progressive tense

While English speakers often use the simple tense with always to talk about common or repeated actions, they sometimes use the progressive tense to give the same meaning. In other words, they are using progressive verbs when you might expect them to use simple verbs.

In general, the progressive tense gives the idea that an action began or took place before something else. It also shows that the action is happening now and will continue for some time.

The form of the progressive tense is generally BE + -ing.

If we were to take our earlier example of the child, he or she might say, “I am studying.”

This means that the child began studying some time ago, is studying presently⁴ and might continue studying for some time. However, in some situations, English speakers use the progressive tense to express anger or other forms of annoyance⁵.

Do not fear: you can tell if the speaker is using the progressive tense in this way. When English speakers are using the progressive tense to show annoyance, they generally use the adverbs always or constantly.

Now, let’s listen to an example. It is from the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky. Here, English actor Eddie Marsan expresses annoyance at his driving student, played by actress Sally Hawkins.

“You are patronizing me. You're always patronizing me. This is what you always wanted, this is what you set out to achieve, this is the game you played…”

Here, you have an example of the progressive tense used in the usual way – to talk about a present action that began sometime in the past and continues in the present. That is why Marsan says, “You are patronizing me.”

Then he uses the present progressive tense with the adverb always to express his annoyance at a series of repeated actions. His words are “You are always patronizing me.”

Let’s listen to a few more examples. Imagine two high school students complaining about a person. They might say this:

1: Do you know Todd?

2: Yes, he’s a hard person to get along with.

1: How so?

2: Well, he’s always bragging⁶ about himself.

1: Really?

2: Yeah. He’s constantly trying to make other people look bad, too.

In the conversation, you heard two examples of the speaker using the present progressive to complain – “he’s always bragging…” and “he’s constantly trying…” Here, the speaker is showing annoyance at a series of repeated actions.

Remember the lines from Samantha Fish’s song? Let’s listen again:

Somebody's always trying to take my baby away…

By now, you can probably tell that the song is about expressing annoyance at a repeated action – somebody is always trying to take away her boyfriend.

Closing thoughts

To be clear: English speakers generally use the simple tense with the adverb always to talk about repeated, everyday actions. But in some cases, such as with complaining, they sometimes use the progressive.

The next time you are watching films or television, listen carefully for examples of when speakers show annoyance. You can start to notice how they change between the simple tense and the progressive tense. Try to listen for the adverbs that the speakers use, and make note of them.

A quick note about complaining and expressing annoyance: while it is useful to understand the grammar behind such communication, we suggest that you be careful about expressing your feelings. You can read another Everyday Grammar report on that subject on our website.

I'm John Russell.

And I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

grammar – n. the system, rules and structure of a language

progressive tense – n. grammar the use of a verb to show repeated or continuous⁸ action

conversation – n. a talk involving two people or a small group of people

patronize – v. to talk to (someone) in a way that shows that you believe you are more intelligent or better than other people

brag⁷ – v. to talk about yourself, your successes or family in a way that makes you appear better than others

1 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

2 progressive   

adj.先进的；前进的，渐进的；进行式的

参考例句：

• There is often a progressive loss of sight in old age.上了年纪的人视力逐步减退。
• It's a progressive idea.这是一种进步的思想。

3 definitions   

定义( definition的名词复数 )； 规定； 清晰（度）； 解释

参考例句：

• Write clear definitions in order to avoid ambiguity. 释义要写清楚以免产生歧义。
• Definitions in this dictionary are printed in roman type. 这本词典里的释义是用罗马体印刷的。

4 presently   

adv.不久，一会儿；现在，目前

参考例句：

• I'll go to see your uncle presently.我一会儿就去看望你叔叔。
• He is presently living in New York.他目前住在纽约。

5 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

6 bragging   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

• He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
• Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

7 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

8 continuous   

adj.继续的，连续的，持续的，延伸的

参考例句：

• She finally got in after 10 years'continuous effort.坚持不懈地努力了十年后，她终于当选了。
• We must be continuous to study.我们必须不断学习。