[majid72]

Hello

Would you please tell me the difference between the two:

-How long will you stay in the hotel?
-How long will you be staying in the hotel?

Thanks a lot.

[STCrowley]

Hey, majid72:

My first instinct was to say that there isn't much of a difference between them. (I'm saying this about how I'd use them as a native speaker, not for the differences between the simple future and the future progressive.) But then I realized that there was a difference:

If I said "How long will you stay?" it would sound to me like we were talking about this for the first time, or like I maybe didn't think you knew how long you would stay. (Does this make sense? I'm saying I don't think you'd have a plan for how long to stay in the hotel.) If I say "How long will you be staying?" my feeling is that I know you have a plan--you've thought about this before--and now I want to know what the plan is.

I don't feel like this is a crystal clear explanation. If I can help in any way, let me know.
-Toby

[majid72]

Quote STCrowley

Hey, majid72:

My first instinct was to say that there isn't much of a difference between them. (I'm saying this about how I'd use them as a native speaker, not for the differences between the simple future and the future progressive.) But then I realized that there was a difference:

If I said "How long will you stay?" it would sound to me like we were talking about this for the first time, or like I maybe didn't think you knew how long you would stay. (Does this make sense? I'm saying I don't think you'd have a plan for how long to stay in the hotel.) If I say "How long will you be staying?" my feeling is that I know you have a plan--you've thought about this before--and now I want to know what the plan is.

I don't feel like this is a crystal clear explanation. If I can help in any way, let me know.
-Toby

Hello Toby
Thank you very much for your time.
I have one more question almost the same as the above.
Could you please tell me when we use ing form and simple form after the modal verbs. Is there any difference between them?
For example ,take the sentences:
-You might be thinking this way is wrong.
-There were lessons all around me about what I should be doing, where I should be going, but I chose to ignore them.
-Afterwards, Mr. Reynolds announced that the President would be visiting Ireland in the not too distant future
Does it make any difference when we use the simple form in the above sentences?

I would appreciate you greatly for being kind to help me.

[STCrowley]

First things first, Majid:

I think you mean "I would appreciate IT greatly. . ."

And as for the -ing verbs after modals, I think you might be confusing yourself. "You should swim" and "you should be swimming" are exactly the same. . . except that the second form is the progressive. Use it whenever you'd normally use the progressive. (If you want, I can send you a link to a series of worksheets I made on the progressive, but it's quite a bit.)

Or did I not understand your question, exactly?

-Toby