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§ 4. The category of development, unlike the categories of person, 
number, and time, has a verbid representation, namely, it is repre-
sented in the infinitive. This fact, for its part, testifies to another 
than temporal nature of the continuous. 
With the infinitive, the category of development, naturally, ex-
presses the same meaningful contrast between action in progress 
and action not in progress as with the finite forms of the verb. Cf.: 
Kezia and her grandmother were taking their siesta together.
------It was but natural for Kezia and her grandmother 
to be taking their siesta together. What are you complaining 
about?——Is there really anything for you to be complaining 
about? 
But in addition to this purely categorial distinction, the form of the 
continuous infinitive has a tendency to acquire quite a special 
meaning in combination with modal verbs, namely that of 
probability. This meaning is aspectual in a broader sense than the 
"inner character" of action: the aspectuality amounts here to an 
outer appraisal of the denoted process. Cf.: 
Paul must wait for you, you needn't be in a hurry. Paul must be 
waiting for us, so let's hurry up. 
The first of the two sentences expresses Paul's obligation to wait, 
whereas the second sentence renders the speaker's supposition of 
the fact. 
The general meaning of probability is varied by different additional 
shades depending on the semantic type of the modal verb and the 
corresponding contextual conditions, such as uncertainty, incredu-
lity, surprise, etc. Cf.: 
But can she be taking Moyra's words so personally? If the flight 
went smoothly, they may be approaching the West Coast. You 
must be losing money over this job. 
The action of the continuous infinitive of probability, 

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in accord with the type of the modal verb and the context, may re-
fer not only to the plane of the present, but also to the plane of the 
future. Cf.: Ann must be coming soon, you'd better have things put 
in order. 
The gerund and the participle do not distinguish the category of 
development as such, but the traces of progressive meaning are in-
herent in these forms, especially in the present participle, which it-
self is one of the markers of the category (in combination with the 
categorial auxiliary). In particular, these traces are easily disclosed 
in various syntactic participial complexes. Cf.: 
The girl looked straight into my face, smiling enigmatically. → 
The girl was smiling enigmatically as she looked straight into my 
face. We heard the leaves above our heads rustling in the wind. → 
We heard how the leaves above our heads were rustling in the 
wind. 
However, it should be noted, that the said traces of meaning are 
still traces, and they are more often than not subdued and neutral-
ised.