Can we use both present simple and continuous in this sentence?
I've got a high temperature. I think i am coming/come down with a flu.
Continuous - when we consider this to be as a process -> we have temperature so we might be coming down with a flu
Simple - as a person's viewpoint - there can be many diseases but in our personal opinion it is most probably a flu
I know that according to the book it should be continuous but please help me understand why.
When we say:
I come down with {some malady}...
we do not mean that we are becoming sick at that moment, but that we become sick periodically or now and then.
I come down with a cold one or two times a year.
The simple present (with non-stative verbs) is used to refer to an event as one occurring with some degree of regularity, or habitually.
We use the continuous if we wish to express the idea that the malady is beginning to affect us at this moment:
I am coming down with a cold.
With a stative verb, the simple present means that the state is in effect at this moment:
He has a pencil is his shirt pocket.
He has javascript experience.
One often sees the continuous used in Indian English in contexts where American or British or Australian English would use the simple present:
Indian English He is having javascript experience.
Simple present tense, Present continuous tense or Present perfect tense can all have the same meaning.
Can we use both present simple and continuous in this sentence?
I've got a high temperature. I think i am coming/come down with a flu.
This sentence can only be written in the present continuous form
You can say the same thing in Simple present tense or Present perfect tense by changing the words in the sentence
Simple present tense - I've got a high temperature. I think I have the flu.
Present perfect tense - I've got a high temperature. I think I have caught the flu.
Continuous - when we consider this to be as a process -> we have temperature so we might be coming down with a flu
Simple - as a person's viewpoint - there can be many diseases but in our personal opinion it is most probably a flu
There is no difference in meaning if you use any of the above tenses. They all mean that you are guessing it is flu.
