There are two sentences,
- The carpet lies on the floor.
- The carpet is lying on the floor.
What is the difference between the two sentences? And under what situation should we use 'present progressive' with a stative verb?
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Carpets do not lie on floors. Also, wall-to-wall carpet and a carpet are different. Wall-to-wall carpet or carpeting is put in or lain (installed) in a room. Carpets are on the floor. (like an area rug). People can lie on the floor or a mat to do exercises. A dog can lie on the floor or on a sofa. Cats often lie around on furniture (if they are allowed to). :)– LambieCommented Jul 30, 2017 at 21:42
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1 Answer
In general, you won't go wrong if you use simple present with general truths:
A carpet covers a floor.
and use the progressive with particular situations:
She couldn't see if there was hardwood beneath it because the carpet was completely covering the floor.
Here, the progressive/continuous contributes to the idea that the floor covering was uninterrupted, that is, there were no sections of bare floor.
