present continuous with feel and see

The answer to the difference in meaning between "I feel better," and "I'm feeling better," lies, simply, in the second word of the second sentence's tense; "continuous." The former describes a condition at a given moment in time and the other a continuous state with a less certain time frame.

The transitive verb, feel (as in "to examine by touching") is not restricted to a particular tense. "The doctor is feeling her pulse," means she is in the act of touching the pulse. "The doctor feels her pulse," could be used to indicate the act of touching in a sequence of events or could be the answer the question, "How does the doctor measure her heart rate?" It does not, however, change the sense of the word.

My guess, so far, is that you can say, "I'm seeing to this problem." "See to" is phrasal verb that means "attend to."

Doctors (and other medical professionals, for that matter) don't "feel" pulses. They "take them," as in: "The creep of a doctor tried to feel me up while he was taking my pulse."

"Taking the pulse" is an idiomatic expression that describes the act of getting a heart rate by feeling the pulse. If no pulse is detected, would a doctor say, "I can't take a pulse?"

No, more likely he or she would say: "I couldn't take a pulse."

I thought that it is a special usage of feel, but you are right. Hi Setanta, I wonder why it's mentioned feel the pulse. I heeded to this now, it's taking pulse not feeling pulse. Maybe the doctor does the feeling first to check if the person is alive !

A medical professional might say something to the effect that: "I could not feel a pulse." However, as that is often prima fascia evidence of a moribund condition, there would usually be better, more obvious evidence of the patient being dead.

As for feel and feeling, the gerund is usually used to indicate an ongoing condition. If the plumber is still attempting to correct a leak, one would say: The plumber is seeing to the leak. Once the problem were correct, one would say: The plumber saw to the leak. If the problem has not yet been addressed, on might say: We need a plumber to see to that leak.

Think of the term you are using: present continuous. That is used when one is describing an activity which is present taking place.

Setanta is spinning out his bullshit again.

[Edited to gratify the wounded ego of the nitpicker.]

A doctor could certainly feel a pulse (to assess whether there is one or to determine its strength) without ever actually taking a pulse, but he certainly couldn't take one without feeling it. At any rate, the answer remains the same with respect to the verb tenses.

Like a dog with an old shoe, you just can't let it go, can you?

Yes, I can. And "muribund," too.

How very charitable of you . . . remind me of that the next time i heap coals of scorn upon you devoted pate . . .

Ahhh, you're nobody until you're hated. I've arrived.

You flatter yourself if you believe that i have any emotional investment in an exchange of ripostes with you . . .

I work with doctors (in England) and am related to several as well, and I think it more likely that one would say "I couldn't find a pulse".

Sorry to muddy the waters!

Not at all, Boss. I would venture the suggestion that they had failed to find a pulse after having attempted to take one. My remarks were based upon three years in the Army Medical Corps, and as many years after, until i finally stopped working in medical settings because i was fed up with doctors and nurses.

How did they taste? Did they struggle much?

Thanks Setanta, and thanks Valpower. I hope that my question isn't making troubles here ?

I also stayed at a hospital for two years.

A lot like pork, and you have to sedate them first, usually, a 16 pound sledge hammer works well for that . . .


Navigator, you have made no trouble for anyone here. When you say that you stayed at a hospital, do you mean that you worked there?

Acutally, I stayed at two hospitals, the one for three months, and the

second for two years. I stayed as an attendant with my middle brother. He

is quadriplegia due an accident 5 years ago. I couldn't afford to take him

home at that time, because he needs alot of care. But now, he is home.

The waters haven't been muddied, so much as diverted.