meaning - What is the difference, if any, between these two sentences?



What is the difference, if any, between the following two sentences?



(1) The sun sets at 9 P.M. tomorrow.


(2) The sun is setting at 9 P.M. tomorrow.




Answer



Semantically they mean the same thing, though



The sun is setting at 9 P.M. tomorrow.



Might throw up red flags for some people as it should really use future tense:



The sun will set/will be setting at 9 P.M. tomorrow.



However, it's technically acceptable as a colloquial-ish usage: it's not dissimilar to saying something like "My test results are arriving at noon tomorrow." Not massively common usage, but some people do say it like that.


If you want to make it completely unambiguous, you could instead say



Sunset will be at 9 P.M. tomorrow.



(Credit to cobaltduck for the point about future tense)


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