# I'm <studying at> <going to> high school



## nowecant

Could you tell me if these sentences make sense to you?

I'm studying at XXX high school.
I study at XXX high school.
I go to XXX high school.
I'm going to XXX high school.

I think only _I go to XXX high school._ is correct and the first two are not really used with high schools. Would you agree?


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## The Newt

They're all "correct," in the sense that they are correctly formed grammatically. In the US we _usually_ say "I go to X High School."


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## Ivan_I

I was thinking why people usually say "I go to school." As a rule, people don't go to school all their life so why not "I am going to school." Or is it because it sounds like I am going to school right now?


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## velisarius

Because it sounds as though you are on your way to school right now, or intend/plan to go to school..

_I'm in the bus. I'm going to school.
My son is going to school next year._


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## Ivan_I

velisarius said:


> Because it sounds as though you are on your way to school right now, or intend/plan to go to school..
> 
> _I'm in the bus. I'm going to school.
> My son is going to school next year._


It's true. But it's also true that if one said "I am working with 'Harry and brothers' " it wouldn't sound as one is on the job at the moment. Probably, it deals with different semantics of "go" and "work"?


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## kentix

Simple present can be used to indicate habitual action. That's how it's used there.

_I go to school._

I habitually go to school. It's part of my routine at this point in my life.


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## Ivan_I

kentix said:


> Simple present can be used to indicate habitual action. That's how it's used there.
> 
> _I go to school._
> 
> I habitually go to school. It's part of my routine at this point in my life.


Well... you do say... "I am building a house" which is also routine and part of one's life still the present continuous is used.


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## kentix

Building a house is not a habitual action for the person who will be living in the house.

It is for someone who has that job.

A: What do you do?
B: I build house*s*.

Another example.

A: What do you do on a typical day? (i.e. what do you do habitually?)
B: I eat meals. I clean my house. I watch TV. Sometimes I do jigsaw puzzles.

habitual - habitual - habitual - less than habitual (have to add "sometimes")


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## Ivan_I

kentix said:


> Building a house is not a habitual action for the person who will be living in the house.
> 
> It is for someone who has that job.
> 
> A: What do you do?
> B: I build house*s*.


You missed my point. It can take me 10 years to build a house and it takes approximately 10 years to finish school. We have two actions which last the same amount of time and one is habitual while the other one is temporary. So, how come we identify one as habitual and the other one as temporary if they both last the same amount of time?


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## kentix

See my new example on my previous post.

I go to school. = every day I get up, go to school and then return

Do you get up every day and build a house?

In ten years you will have 3652 houses.


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## Ivan_I

Myridon said:


> Building a house would take some people an infinite amount of time. It has no application to the question.


If amount of time has no application what does have then? 



kentix said:


> I go to school. = every day I get up, go to school and then return


No you don't. Only 5 days a week. Plus you don't go to school oh holidays. 


kentix said:


> Do you get up every day and build a house?


It can be as often as someone goes to school. 


kentix said:


> In ten years you will have 3652 houses.


How did you land on this number?


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## kentix

"I work on my house" (simple present) is a habitual action. "I build a house" (simple present) is absurd. "I am building a house" means you are midway in that process of doing it one time. One time is not habitual action. It's not "built" until it's completed.

If you build a house every day for ten years that's 3652 days (counting two leap years). That will give you 3652 completed houses.


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## Roxxxannne

And "I go to school" is a habitual action, but "I'm going to school" can imply, as does "I'm building a house," that you are in the process of doing something that will eventually be finished.


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## Ivan_I

kentix said:


> "I work on my house" (simple present) is a habitual action. "I build a house" (simple present) is absurd.


I never said "I build a house".


kentix said:


> "I am building a house" means you are midway in that process of doing it one time." One time is not habitual action.


How a day of building a house differs from a day of going to school? Who says that "I am building a house" means one-time building?



kentix said:


> If you build a house every day for ten years that's 3652 days (counting two leap years). That will give you 3652 houses.


In that case a person goes to 3652 schools in 10 years.


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## Ivan_I

Roxxxannne said:


> And "I go to school" is a habitual action, but "I'm going to school" can imply, as does "I'm building a house," that you are in the process of doing something that will eventually be finished.


Good point. But I want to make it clear that "going to school" will also eventually be finished. AS it's is also temporary.


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## Roxxxannne

Well, "I'm going to school" _*can* _imply that it's temporary, as I tried to say in my previous post.


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## Ivan_I

Roxxxannne said:


> Well, "I'm going to school" _*can* _imply that it's temporary, as I tried to say in my previous post.


OK. It's clear. What I am trying to say is that "I go to school" is also temporary. But I can't find a unison with other revered members.


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## Roxxxannne

Sure, the _idea_ of going to school is temporary.  One doesn't expect to go to school for the rest of one's life.
But the expression "I go to school" does not express temporaryness.  It expresses habitual activity.
When a kid says "I go to school" they are speaking of it as a habitual action the same way their mother says "I write articles for the Scranton newspaper."    Either one is temporary when one considers the span of human life: some day the kid will graduate, and some day the mother will move on to work for the Philadelphia newspaper, or quit working entirely.  
But now, what occupies their time is going to school and working for the newspaper.


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## kentix

Ivan_I said:


> Who says that "I am building a house" means one-time building?


You did. "I am building *a* house." Your sentence refers to one and only one. There is no reason in that sentence to believe that you will start another. If you want people to know you routinely build houses then "a" does not belong. "I build house*s*". That is your habitual action. When one is complete, you start on the next.



Ivan_I said:


> In that case a person goes to 3652 schools in 10 years.


No, school is not a reference to a building in that use. It's a reference to an educational process. I participate in the educational process of being taught every day.


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## Ivan_I

kentix said:


> You did. "I am building *a* house." Your sentence refers to one and only one.


Yes, but I never said that it would take one day to build a house. I said 10 years.


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## kentix

Roxxxannne said:


> But the expression "I go to school" does not express temporaryness. It expresses habitual activity.


 

You choose the words to express the specific idea you are trying to express, not all possible ideas relating to that subject.


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## Ivan_I

Roxxxannne! You have brought a relevant thought to the discussion.


Roxxxannne said:


> Sure, the _idea_ of going to school is temporary.  One doesn't expect to go to school for the rest of one's life.
> But the expression "I go to school" does not express temporaryness.  It expresses habitual activity.


So, we have a temporary idea *"Sure, the idea of going to school is temporary."* which is expressed through a habitual expression *"But the expression "I go to school" does not express temporaryness."*

Don't you find it not to line up?



Roxxxannne said:


> When a kid says "I go to school" they are speaking of it as a habitual action the same way their mother says "I write articles for the Scranton newspaper."    Either one is temporary when one considers the span of human life: some day the kid will graduate, and some day the mother will move on to work for the Philadelphia newspaper, or quit working entirely.
> But now, what occupies their time is going to school and working for the newspaper.


I agree.... so, why can't we apply the same logic to "I build a house."? As I said some people may spend 10 years building a house. Clearly, in physical universe "going to school for ten years" or "building a house for ten years" is the same temporary thing.... Do you see my point?


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## kentix

Ivan_I said:


> , but I never said that it would take one day to build a house. I said 10 years.


But it's still only one house. You aren't habitually building houses. You are simply building one house, however long it takes.

Habitualness applies to doing the same thing over and over. Building a house is a one time thing.

Student - "I go to school" - the student *goes* to school one day, then *goes* the next day, then *goes* the next day...

Builder - "I build houses" - the builder *builds* (i.e. completes) one house, then *builds* another house, then *builds* another house...

You - "I ..." - what activity are you doing repetitively that allows you to use the present simple?


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## JulianStuart

I go to school every day from Monday to(through) Friday.
I build a house every day from Monday to(through) Friday.   That's a lot of houses.
I go to *a* school every day from Monday to(through) Friday.???  This might be said by a schools inspector who goes to a *different* school each day

Building a house is a process that takes time to complete.  Going to school is an action that happens every day.  Not comparable in logic or grammar.


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## Ivan_I

kentix said:


> But it's still only one house. You aren't habitually building houses. You are simply building one house, however long it takes.


But it's still only one school. 


kentix said:


> Habitualness applies to doing the same thing over and over. Building a house is a one time thing.
> 
> Student - I  to school - *goes* to school one day, then *goes* the next day, then *goes* the next day...
> 
> Builder - I build houses - *builds* (i.e. completes) one house, then *builds* another house, then *builds* another house...
> 
> You - what activity are you doing repetitively?


Well, you are underestimating the work of a builder. He does one day one task, then another, then another. What's the difference in physical universe between going to school and building in terms of producing an action?


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## Ivan_I

JulianStuart said:


> I go to school every day from Monday to Friday.


Do you go to school all your life or within a temporary period? 



JulianStuart said:


> I build a house every day from Monday to Friday.   That's a lot of houses.


Where do you get the idea of completion of building a house? I build my only house every day from Monday to Friday. 



JulianStuart said:


> Building a house is a process that takes time to complete.  Going to school is an action that happens every day.  Not comparable in logic or grammar.


Every process consists of actions, and every action is a process. One leads to the other in vice verse. 

I am trying to understand when an action becomes habitual in English. That's the point.


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## kentix

Ivan_I said:


> He does one day one task


Exactly. When he completes a task he hasn't built the house.

When a student completes a day, he has finished going to school for that day. That instance of going is complete. He will complete another instance the next day.

If someone asks him, "Did you go to school today?" his answer will be "yes".

If someone asks the builder, "Did you build the house today?" his answer will be, "Are you crazy? We won't be finished building it for two more months."

It's not built until it's complete. If you build houses, you complete more than one.


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## JulianStuart

Ivan_I said:


> Do you go to school all your life or within a temporary period?


  During their school education, a student/pupil goes to school every day (M-F, not during vacations etc)..



Ivan_I said:


> Where do you get the idea of completion of building a house? I build my only house every day from Monday to Friday.


From the English meaning.   I repeat:





JulianStuart said:


> Building a house is a process that takes time to complete.  Going to school is an action that happens every day.  Not comparable in logic or grammar.


"*What did you do today daddy?"  
"I built a house".  In English this means you COMPLETED the task.*
On the other hand, with habitual actions:
"What did you do today son?"
"I went to school."


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## kentix

Builder - I *am building* three houses at the moment

These are specific houses *partly through the process* of being built and will obviously be completed at some point. Logic/experience tells you building a particular house has a beginning and an end.

Builder - I build houses

This is a statement of habitual action. He builds house after house after house. It doesn't tell you how many are currently under construction. He might have none under construction at this exact moment but he still "builds houses" because that is his habitual activity. It doesn't tell you if he will ever stop. It's about habitual action in the present. It's not concerned with the future.

Reader - I am reading a mystery novel

This is a one time action. The book has a beginning and end and the reader is partway through the process of going from beginning to end.

Reader - I read mystery novels

This is a habit. There is no telling if or when it will ever end. It's about habitual action in the present. It's not concerned with the future.

Student - I am going to school

Experience tells us that school eventually comes to an end. This tense naturally suggests the passage of time toward that end but that far off end can be quite vague in the consciousness when this sentence is said. It's much like the sentence below, in effect, when spoken.

Student - I go to school

Although logically we know there is an eventual end to school, this is about habitual action in the present. It's not concerned with the future. "At this point in time this is what I do on a regular basis." It's irrelevant in the context what will happen in some far off future.


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## Roxxxannne

Ivan_I said:


> Roxxxannne! You have brought a relevant thought to the discussion.
> 
> So, we have a temporary idea *"Sure, the idea of going to school is temporary."* which is expressed through a habitual expression *"But the expression "I go to school" does not express temporaryness."*
> 
> Don't you find it not to line up?
> 
> 
> I agree.... so, why can't we apply the same logic to "I build a house."? As I said some people may spend 10 years building a house. Clearly, in physical universe "going to school for ten years" or "building a house for ten years" is the same temporary thing.... Do you see my point?


No, I find that to line up perfectly well.  
'Habitual action' for me is an action that I do every time the opportunity to do it comes up.  
For instance:
a.  I_ wear a mask _whenever I go outside in New York these days.  It's a habitual action but it will, presumably, end some day.
b.  But if I posted a photo of myself here with my mask on, and the background is not easily visible, I'd say "_I'm wearing a mask_ because I'm outside. _I wear a mask_ whenever I'm outside here."
In b), "I'm wearing a mask" means that at the particular moment when the photo was taken, I am performing a particular action that will, as a particular action, stop when I go inside.  The second sentence in b) expresses something different about mask-wearing: I perform, as a habitual action, the particular action of putting on a mask day in and day out.  

I consider 'build a house' to mean 'construct a house from the beginning, starting with excavating the area where the foundations will be and ending with something like hanging the closet doors.'  
That's not something one can do in a day.  Right now my cousin is in real life building a shed in his backyard (he and his wife also built their house about 35 years ago).  If I ask him what he did yesterday, he'd say "I worked on the shed" or "I got the shed walls framed up" or "I was working on my shed in the morning and then realized I needed more 2 by 4s.  So I went to the lumberyard."  If he said "I built my shed" I would assume that he had finished it.   
Going to school is different. Even though one does not practice writing the alphabet for 20 years, the process is considered linguistically as a single action: learning stuff. Building a house is a series of separate activities.


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## JulianStuart

JulianStuart said:


> "What did you do today daddy?"
> "I built a house".  In English this means you COMPLETED the task.





Roxxxannne said:


> I consider 'build a house' to mean 'construct a house from the *beginning*, starting with excavating the area where the foundations will be and *ending* with something like hanging the closet doors.'


  
This concept seems to be the one that is confusing Ivan. 
If we go to work and participate in the building of a house (whether it is our house or it is our job as a carpenter, for example), we would not say I built a house today.


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## Ivan_I

Roxxxannne said:


> No, I find that to line up perfectly well.
> 'Habitual action' for me is an action that I do every time the opportunity to do it comes up.
> For instance:
> a.  I_ wear a mask _*whenever *I go outside in New York these days.  It's a habitual action but it will, presumably, end some day.
> b.  But if I posted a photo of myself here with my mask on, and the background is not easily visible, I'd say "_I'm wearing a mask_ because I'm outside. _I wear a mask_ *whenever *I'm outside here."


You have to be careful with the adverbs of time. *Whenever *automatically makes a sentence habitual. But we hadn't had *whenever *until you brought it up. I think your examples with *whenever *shouldn't be considered here. Let's stick to:

I wear a mask.
I go to school. 



Roxxxannne said:


> In b), "I'm wearing a mask" means that at the particular moment when the photo was taken, I am performing a particular action that will, as a particular action, stop when I go inside.  The second sentence in b) expresses something different about mask-wearing: I perform, as a habitual action, the particular action of putting on a mask day in and day out.


It's only half of the truth. The present continuous can be used not only at the particular moment but within long periods of time which are temporary. Right?
I am building a house. (It doesn't have to mean "right now")
I am reading the Bible. (It doesn't have to mean "right now") Can I read the Bible for 20 years? Yes, I can. 


Roxxxannne said:


> I consider 'build a house' to mean 'construct a house from the beginning, starting with excavating the area where the foundations will be and ending with something like hanging the closet doors.'


OK. It's like to cure/treat. I see. But I never actually tried to adjust "I build a house every day" in the first place. I was wondering why people don't say "I am going to school" to mean "I go to school" as it's obvious that going to school is temporary. That's the point. I think that it has something to do with the semantics of each verb.



kentix said:


> Student - I go to school
> Although logically we know there is an eventual end to school, this is about habitual action in the present. It's not concerned with the future. "At this point in time this is what I do on a regular basis." It's irrelevant in the context what will happen in some far off future.


But it's possible to apply the same logic to almost every action. 
Today I call my friends and wish them well. I do it every other minute. This is my routine today. I call one friend, then another, then another... But I know that "I call my friends today (only/not every year on this day)" is not correct. It should be "I am calling my friends today and wishing them well."
It turns out that for an action to be habitual it's not enough to be repetitive only. But there must be a certain span of the time. Do you see my point? 
One more example. Imagine that instead of 10-12 years of going to school people had to go to school for 5 months in all their life. Would you still say "I go to school"?


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## Roxxxannne

Okay, then ...

a.  I_ wear a mask _outside in New York these days.  It's a habitual action but it will, presumably, end some day.
b.  But if I posted a photo of myself here with my mask on, and the background is not easily visible, I'd say "_I'm wearing a mask_ because I'm outside. _I wear a mask_ outside here."
In b), "I'm wearing a mask" means that at the particular moment when the photo was taken, I am performing a particular action that will, as a particular action, stop when I go inside.  The second sentence in b) expresses something different about mask-wearing: I perform, as a habitual action, the particular action of putting on a mask day in and day out. 

No 'whenever.' Same meaning.


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## Roxxxannne

> But it's possible to apply the same logic to almost every action.
> Today I call my friends and wish them well. I do it every other minute. This is my routine today. I call one friend, then another, then another... But I know that "I call my friends today (only/not every year on this day)" is not correct. It should be "I am calling my friends today and wishing them well."
> It turns out that for an action to be habitual it's not enough to be repetitive only. But there must be a certain span of the time. Do you see my point?
> One more example. Imagine that instead of 10-12 years of going to school people had to go to school for 5 months in all their life. Would you still say "I go to school"?


Yes, you are correct.   Repetition does not make something habitual.  
Scenario 1 (2001):
Adult: How's school?
Six-year-old child: Well, we have circle time and then we practice making our letters and we go out on the playground and we hear stories and count things. I count to 100 every day. 

Scenario 2 (2018):
Well-meaning aged relative: How's Yale? 
Graduate student: Well, I'm studying for my qualifying exams.  Every day I go to the library and sit at my favorite carrel and read.
I'm worrying about my algebraic topology exam.

The six-year-old will repeat these specific things for a relatively short time -- about eight months -- but these things are her current routine; there is no other routine.
The grad student is going to take her algebraic topology exam in only six weeks, but her current daily routine (at least her routine as she divulges it to her aunt)  involves nothing other than reading, repeating that action every day. At the same time, she knows that six weeks from now (fingers crossed) studying for the exams and worrying will be over.

These are not just grammatical issues.  They have to do with how people think about their activities and about the present compared to the past and future.  English is fortunate enough to have two kinds of present tense, and English speakers differentiate between them unconsciously.
(This leaves aside the construction _The exams are in six weeks, _where the present is used to convey something that will take place in the future, which is a topic for an interesting discussion in another thread.)


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## kentix

Ivan_I said:


> Imagine that instead of 10-12 years of going to school people had to go to school for 5 months in all their life. Would you still say "I go to school"?


Yes, if the question asked was "What do you do?" (i.e. what's your primary activity right now? Primary activities in the U.S. are things like having a job, going to school, being retired, being a housewife/househusband. Sometimes being a regular volunteer or traveling as a long term activity could be mentioned.)

As said, habitual action is about a regular pattern that is established _right now_. It doesn't address the future one way or the other. Right now, my primary activity is going to school. So "I go to school" is a correct thing to say. It's what I did yesterday. It's what I'll do tomorrow.


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## Ivan_I

kentix said:


> Yes, if the question asked was "What do you do?" (i.e. what's your primary activity right now? Primary activities in the U.S. are things like having a job, going to school, being retired, being a housewife/househusband. Sometimes being a regular volunteer or traveling as a long term activity could be mentioned.)
> 
> As said, habitual action is about a regular pattern that is established _right now_. It doesn't address the future one way or the other. Right now, my primary activity is going to school. So "I go to school" is a correct thing to say. It's what I did yesterday. It's what I'll do tomorrow.


It sounds like you add a social flavor to an activity. Maybe there is something in it. "Right now" is quite a vague term. 

Anyway, why does the student in Roxy's example start with the present continuous? 



Roxxxannne said:


> Well-meaning aged relative: How's Yale?
> Graduate student: *Well, I'm studying for my qualifying exams.*  Every day I go to the library and sit at my favorite carrel and read.


Why not "I study for my qualifying exams"? 

You say " As said, habitual action is about a regular pattern that is established _right now_. " 

OK. Why doesn't this work? *Today I call my friends and wish them well! *It is a regular pattern that is established _right now_.


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## Ivan_I

Roxxxannne said:


> Scenario 2 (2018):
> Well-meaning aged relative: How's Yale?
> Graduate student: Well, *I'm studying for my qualifying exams. * Every day I go to the library and sit at my favorite carrel and read.
> I'm worrying about my algebraic topology exam.


Look what we've got here! The present continuous with a habitual action. How come? It should have been "I study for my..."


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## JulianStuart

What are you doing at university?  I'm studying economics.
What do you do every day?  I go to lectures and play basketball with my friends.


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## kentix

Well-meaning aged relative: How's Yale?
Graduate student: Well, *I'm studying for my qualifying exams. *Every day I go to the library and sit at my favorite carrel and read.

Friend: How's everything with you and your family?
You: Well, *we're building a house. *Every day I work on the house.

Do you see the similarity? You describe the ongoing activity you're working on - studying for a particular set of exams and building a house. Those are projects that have a beginning a middle and an end. Those projects are one-time projects, not a habitual action. What you do every day to help complete those projects is a habitual action.

Every day* I go* to the library and read.
Every day* I work* on the house.

That's what you did yesterday, that's what you're doing today, that's what you'll do tomorrow.


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## Ivan_I

JulianStuart said:


> What are you doing at university?  I'm studying economics.


When?


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## kentix

You are emphasizing the reason you are at the university:

I'm studying economics.

You are emphasizing what you do on a day-to-day basis:

I study economics.


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## JulianStuart

JulianStuart said:


> What are you doing at university?  I'm studying economics.





Ivan_I said:


> When?


When the conversation occurs. 

"Studying economics" is an activity that might cover three or four years, depending on the institution that is doing the teaching.  While someone is at university, that is how English uses the present continuous to describe what they are studying.  Is that something that confuses you? ( I'm still trying to understand the issues in your continuation of this thread.)


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## Roxxxannne

We've had 47 posts on this thread, and six people have tried to help.  Could you please ask specific questions about what you would like to have explained further?


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## Ivan_I

The problem is that there are some discrepancies which you (not only you) gloss over.
Even in this post. Look what you say:


JulianStuart said:


> What are you doing at university?  I'm studying economics.





Ivan_I said:


> When?





JulianStuart said:


> When the conversation occurs.



So, I get the idea from that that "I am studying economics while the conversation is taking place." So far so good.

And then you say this: 


JulianStuart said:


> "Studying economics" is an activity that might cover three or four years, depending on the institution that is doing the teaching.


What? Does it mean that the conversation lasts for three or four years. They don't line up.
Maybe we shouldn't go on, indeed, as too different approaches are involved. Plus sometimes it feels like some members are trying to win over instead of unemotionally bringing up their arguments. But I am OK with it anyway, I understand that a sense of competition is involved to some extent.


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## Roxxxannne

I'm going to leave this to JulianStuart or kentix because I find your attitude as expressed in "Plus sometimes it feels like some members are trying to win over instead of unemotionally bringing up their arguments. But I am OK with it anyway, I understand that a sense of competition is involved to some extent." to be annoying and childish.
I sincerely tried to help you and I enjoyed our conversation about the implications of Engish usage.  I certainly have not felt that anyone was competing with me and I certainly did not feel competitive with anyone else.  As far as I know, a respondent on this site does not have dibs on answering all of a questioner's questions.  I chimed in on #18 because I thought that a slightly different point of view might be helpful, and I found kentix's and JulianStuart's answers to be helpful to me as well.


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## Barque

Going to school can't be compared to building a house. Perhaps it's comparable to you, but from the point of view of the English language it isn't.

As quite a few people have said, "I build houses" doesn't mean the same as "I'm building a house", or even "I'm building houses".


Ivan_I said:


> Plus sometimes it feels like some members are trying to win over instead of unemotionally bringing up their arguments.


I haven't seen any emotion on the thread, not from the people who've answered your question at least.  If I was unsure about something and asked a question and five people qualified to answer gave me more or less the same answer, and it didn't match my opinion, I'd consider it very likely they were right and I was wrong.


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## JulianStuart

Ivan_I said:


> The problem is that there are some discrepancies which you (not only you) gloss over.
> Even in this post. Look what you say:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, I get the idea from that that "I am studying economics while the conversation is taking place." So far so good.
> 
> And then you say this:
> 
> What? Does it mean that the conversation lasts for three or four years. They don't line up.
> Maybe we shouldn't go on, indeed, as too different approaches are involved. Plus sometimes it feels like some members are trying to win over instead of unemotionally bringing up their arguments. But I am OK with it anyway, I understand that a sense of competition is involved to some extent.


You rather missed the point, I'm afraid.  You asked "when?" that occurred and the studying was _in progress at the time the conversation_ happened. The studying is an activity that that lasts three or four years, and may contain many conversations.  Again, you may be trying to force a "structure" on sentences without being aware of how the meaning of the words affects the communication, and perhaps that's why you think there are "discrepancies"  - based on your reaction to all the input, it seems there is an assumption you have made that needs adjustment?  Study has different usages:

Water cooler converstion with friend:
JS: What did you study last night?
B: I studied irrational numbers - I have a maths exam coming up.

In the library one evening, where I see a colleague :
JS: What are you studying now?
B: I am studying irrational numbers - It's a new concept for me but there be an exam later this year..

Casual converstion with a new acquaintance:
JS: What are you studying at university.?
B: I am studying economics.


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## kentix

You might have a different problem and maybe need to understand the use of progressive tenses better.

A progressive tense doesn't automatically imply you are actively doing that thing continuously every moment, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Context and logic, as always, are important.



Ivan_I said:


> So, I get the idea from that that "I am studying economics while the conversation is taking place." So far so good.


No, not good. You can't actively study economics 24 hours a day with no breaks. If you are enrolled in an ongoing program of economics instruction you are "studying economics" during this phase in your life. You are doing other things as well, like eating and sleeping and conversing with people, but that doesn't cancel the fact that you are also engaging in an ongoing program of study.

I'm studying economics - that takes years and it's obvious you will be doing other activities alongside it. Logic and life experience, not grammar, tells you that.

I'm calling him right now - you are dialing your phone to talk to someone. It's unlikely you will eat, sleep and hold multiple conversations while doing so. Logic and life experience, not grammar, tells you that.

So, I get the idea from that that "I am studying economics while the conversation is taking place."​
You should get the idea that one very important ongoing activity I'm participating in during this phase of my life is the systematic study of economics, which is done in parts. This conversation is also taking place during this phase of my life but it will be completed shortly relative to my study of economics and it's not interfering with any of those parts. One conversation does not disenroll me from my program of study or even interrupt the program of study I'm following.


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## DonnyB

Several different members have done their best to explain the usage in English of "I go to school".  Attempts to widen the discussion into comparisons with the building of houses appear to me to be serving little or no useful purpose, and the more general question of how continuous tenses are used in English is well outside the remit of our forum.  I'm therefore now closing this thread: thanks to everyone who has taken part for their contributions.  DonnyB - moderator.


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