About English Grammar
Brian! How nice to see you! What are you doing these days?
I am trying to be a supermarket manager.
1. First question: Why do I have to write "What are you doing these days?" - present continuous tence.
I would write "What did you do these days?" - it will be wrong?
2. Can I ask - What did you do? and answer - I am trying to be a manager. - Question in simple past tence, but answer - in present continuous tence
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 3
0
1. Present continuous tense indicates something that is an ongoing process, not a specific event. The speaker in this example is not asking what Brian did on specific days, but rather is asking him about things happening in his life. "what did you do these days?" is like asking "what things did you do on these specific days?"
2. Related to that, asking "what did you do?" is the same as asking "what things did you do?". Because trying to become a manager is not one specific event, but rather a process, it doesn't fit. Brian could say "I asked for a promotion to manager" because that is a one-time event and answers the question "what things did you do?".
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