tenses - In which cases would you say, "I am seeing" instead of "I see"?


In which cases would you say, "I am seeing" instead of "I see"?



Answer



To summarise other people's answers, there are three uses of "I am seeing":




  1. Habitual in the present. ("I'm seeing my analyst every week now") Nearly always in transferred senses of "see" = "have an appointment with" or "have as partner", but can be used literally in eg "I'm seeing that more and more nowadays", to emphasise the ongoing process (cf 3).




  2. Definite appointment in the future: "I'm seeing my doctor next week"; "I'm seeing Harry Potter 7 tomorrow". Again, usually in a non-core meaning of "see".




  3. Present sensation, strongly emphasising the current and continuing process: "Yes, I'm watching him on CCTV. I'm seeing him walk up the stairs, and go into the room". Generally verbs of sensation don't take the present continuous, except in this particular highly marked construction.




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