23 years of leadership at Microsoft • Executive Board Member @microsoftalumni • Gamings first and best influencer • Community and Comms Alchemist
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@perfectdark101 We will agree to disagree.
"Excuse me, may I ask..." is very polite. (well, depending on what topic you ask!)
"I've been wanting to ask you" sounds poorly formed to my ear.
Something I've been noticing lately: "wanting to" showing up everywhere it doesn't belong. "We've been wanting to address this." "I've been wanting to reach out." Podcasters. Casual conversation. I hear it more and more and It always sounded wrong.
I finally looked it up.
@JoeSiegler ugh. Sorry. It's even worse now with the attention economy that is YouTube and social. Everyone is desperate to put out a provocative video.
You can be in the middle of running. You can't be in the middle of wanting. Putting "want" in continuous form is like saying "I am knowing the answer."
Source: https://t.co/fhPtqTgg9E
Ok, that's my grammar lesson for the day.
"Want" is a stative verb. It describes a condition you're in, not something you're actively doing. Continuous tenses (-ing forms) are reserved for actions in progress — things with a start and an end point.
I am REALLY digging @007GameIOI - but it also made me realize how much I want a new Splinter Cell.
That train level in SP and the cinema in Spies vs Mercs - that was some gooooood gaming.