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JUNE 25, 2008 | "I like" versus "I'm liking"

A woman in a movie I watched yesterday said "I'm liking this song." Isn't this incorrect? Shouldn't she have said "I like this song"?

In this context, both would be correct. When you use the simple present tense (I like), you're often talking about something that you GENERALLY like (like a song, a writer, a type of food, etc.) You can also use it to answer a question like "Hey, what do you think of this new drawing/song/report, etc.?" - "I like it."

"I'm liking *it/this/etc.*" is colloquially used to mean "I'm enjoying *it/this/etc.*, so if you're listening to a song and you're in the process of enjoying it, you can say "I'm liking this song." You're talking about the process/experience of enjoying it so it is OK to use the present continuous tense. HOWEVER, if you're talking about something you GENERALLY like, use the simple present tense.

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