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grammar - "I'm having" - an illness?


What is I'm having in grammar terms? Is it something near the present, the near future? As in I'm having a party tomorrow?


Example (not about the near future),



I'm having trouble coming up with a reliable method of comparing sets of data.



Couldn't it be the following simpler version without any change in meaning?



I have trouble coming up with a reliable method of comparing sets of data.




Answer



I am having trouble is written using the present continuous tense (also called present progressive tense).


The progressive tenses are used to put emphasis on the described event being in progress; the progressive also indicates habitual actions (I am walking a lot more now).


The interpretation that I would give to the sentences you wrote is



  • "I'm having trouble coming up with a reliable method of comparing sets of data." — you are searching a reliable method also in the moment you are saying/writing that.

  • "I have trouble coming up with a reliable method of comparing sets of data." — You cannot find a reliable method for comparing sets of data and you are searching a reliable method when you are saying/writing that, or you stopped searching for such method.


There is a difference between I have trouble and I had trouble, as the latter one means that you found a way to compare sets of data in a reliable way (and your trouble is done).


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