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Modality, aspect and the progressive

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Subtitle:the semantics of the present progressive in French in comparison with English
This paper proffers a corpus-based study of the semantics of the French present progressive in comparison with its English equivalent. We describe the temporal and modal uses of 'be + -ing' and investigate to what extent they overlap with the uses of ĂȘtre + en train de. The observation that the use of the French present progressive is not obligatory and more restricted than that of the present progressive in English is taken as a sign of a less advanced stage of grammaticalization of the former. On the other hand, the two progressive constructions are alike in that they turn out to share the same basic, modal meaning, which we define as epistemic contingency in current reality. This meaning is, among other things, reflected in the (inter)subjective connotations that are often associated with the progressives.
Journal: Languages in contrast
ISSN: 1387-6759
Volume: 13
Pages: 113 - 132
Publication year:2013
Keywords:A1 Journal article
BOF-keylabel:yes
Accessibility:Closed