Lesson 6: Continuous tenses to remove emotions

We saw in the last lesson that we can use the past simple and past continuous to ask for things in the present in a polite way, usually with specific verbs like 'hope' and 'wonder'. We can also use the continuous tenses in other ways to soften the emotion of what we say in other situations. 

We can choose the future continuous to make the 'future as a matter of course', which we talk about in more detail in B2. The future continuous is useful (and special) because it includes the idea of 'if everything is normal, this is how the future will be'. 

We can choose the future continuous to talk about more delicate subjects in the future instead of a normal future simple.

·       A more direct, difficult question: when will you pay me?

·       A more delicate question: when will you be paying me?

·       A more direct, difficult question: when will you leave?

·       A more delicate question: when will you be leaving?

We can also use the past continuous to soften something.

Normally, of course, we report a completed past action using the past simple, but sometimes we choose a past continuous to make it softer.

We often do this when we don't want to shock or 'scare' the person we are talking to. 

·       I was speaking to your teacher the other day, and… (The action is complete, and we could choose a past simple here to say 'I spoke to your teacher', but we don't want to scare the student and so we use a softer past continuous)

·       You mother was telling me about your plans…. (Again, this is a little softer than 'your mother told me about your plans', although they are both correct).

We often use the past continuous in this way at the start of a longer story.