She hopes vs. she is hoping

[Torsten]

Hi what do you think about using the present progessive instead of the present simple in the following sentences:

Now she hopes that the memories of her conversation with Bob will fade away like the colours of the flames.

Now she's hoping that the memories of her conversation with Bob will fade away like the colours of the flames.

So what is the difference between she hopes and she's hoping in the examples above?

Thanks in advance,
Torsten
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Pamela]

Torsten, I want to have a try.
To my mind, she's hoping is more emphatic, emotional

[Yankee]

Hi Torsten

I'd say Pamela has a good point. The continuous form adds a sense of duration. Using the simple present tense sounds more "factual" (hard, cold facts... ), so I think the present continuous and the added sense of duration does add some emotion to the hoping.

Amy
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English