Are “Like” and “Arrive” Non-Progressive Verbs?

First Published: 2nd of January, 2020 by Patrick Carpen.

While studying “past progressive tense” with a reputable American University, I was told that the words “like” and “arrive” are non-continuous verbs and therefore cannot be used to make any progressive tense However, I have some doubts about this.

Yes, I know a person can only arrive at one time. Example: He had arrived when I got there.

Other examples:

He arrived this morning at 9 o’clock.

The students arrived in the school early today.

OK, but there are cases where the verb can be used to make progressive (continuous tenses).

Imaging a number of students arriving one after the other.

When I got there, the students were arriving one by one. (Past continuous)

When I arrived at the school last Monday, the students had been arriving one by one. (Past Perfect Continuous).

So to say that the verb “arrive” is a one time action and therefore cannot be used to form a continuous tense is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. There are many other instances whereby the verb can be used to make a continuous tense. Yes, we know that a person can only arrive one time, but this action of arriving can stretch out across a timeline. For example, the plane lands, the person disembarks, grabs their luggage and then walks out of the airport. This whole process takes about 10 minutes. Instead of saying “he has arrived” when the plane lands, also makes sense to say “he is arriving now” when the plane is about to land.

I was also told that the verb “like” falls into the same group of words that cannot form continuous tense. And one again, I disagree. Personally, I see nothing working with someone saying or writing, “I’m loving this,” or “I’m liking this.”

Here is another example:

He was behaving really silly and I was not liking that.

The problem with English language is that there are two many rules that confuse. Furthermore, for almost every rule, there are numerous exceptions. That is why so many students of English throw up their hands halfway or three-quarter ways in a course and say, “you know what, I’m done!”

People come to the conclusion that they cannot master the English language because it is too complicated and confusing. This brings us to the questions of the IQ of the people creating the rules. When a closed group of people are responsible for creating rules for everyone, it spells trouble. That’s why the English language should be sort of like open-sourced software, where everyone who is qualified gets a chance to put in their two cents and improve it.

So, I learned in University English that “like” and “arrive” are two verbs that cannot form continuous tenses. While I disagree, I’m still wondering when and where I will be able to see the full list of verbs that cannot form the continuous tense.