Why is this?

Question

People say this sentence is correct: Is there anybody waiting for me?
But people say this sentence is incorrect: Is there anybody speaking English?

Aren't they the same pattern ?

Answer 1

agree with the former respondents. here's some advice:

there are active verbs (like wait, run, talk) which you only do for a while.
there are also state verbs (like speak, love, know) that are either generally true or not true all the time.

for active verbs, you can use the construction:
"Is there anybody (waiting/running/talking)"

for state verbs, you must use the construction:
"Is there anybody who (speaks/loves/knows)..."

state verbs, unless they're like "speak" which can also be active verbs, do not generally take the progressive/continuous tense.

Answer 2

Both sentences are grammatically correct and are the same pattern. The 2nd sentence sounds very much like you meant to ask something different than what the grammar means.

Present progressive (is verb+ing) is for something that is happening right now, at this moment, when you are speaking. If you really want to know whether there are people speaking English RIGHT NOW, then "Is there anybody speaking English?" is the right thing to say. But since you didn't specify a place where this is happening, it sounds like you are asking

"Is there anyone speaking English (anywhere on earth, right at this very moment)?"

The answer to this question is almost certainly Yes. But the answer to this question is something you certainly already know, and so it is almost certainly not what you meant to ask.

Everyone who hears this sentence will guess that you actually want to know if anyone (HERE) KNOWS HOW to speak English. The right grammar to ask that question is

"Does anyone (here) speak English?"

Answer 3

That's a good question. I'm not sure that I have a serious problem with the second sentence, but I can make a guess why -

In participial phrases (reduced relative clauses), tense isn't supposed to matter - but in your examples, it seems to. 'Waiting' is clearly referring to Present Continuous (Is there anybody who is waiting for me?) where your second sentence seems to sound wierd because you want a Present Simple meaning (Is there anybody here who speaks English?). If you said to me, 'There's someone speaking German in that room', I would understand not that they _do_ (can) speak German but that they _are_ speaking German at the moment.

I've never really thought about this before and I'm not sure why it should be, but it seems to be the best answer I have...

Answer 4

Both sentences are correct.

The first question is asking is there anyone who is in the process of waiting right now. In the same way, in the second question, you are asking if anyone is in the process of speaking English right now. They are similar of course. However, if you want to ask if someone has the ABILITY to speak English, you must change the verb structure.

Answer 5

When you're looking for a person who is speaking English now, saying something in English now, you can say like this.

    Is there anybody speaking English in the room?

But when you're looking for a person who has ability to speak English. you have to say like this.

    Is there anybody who speaks English in the room?

Answer 6

same general pattern ?, yes, i think so.

but English is full of contradictions.

Answer 7

There is no "subject" in the second sentence.

Answer 8

the people - right
you - wrong

Answer 9

THIS IS WRONG.