VERBS WITH STATIVE AND DYNAMIC USES

VERBS WITH STATIVE AND DYNAMIC USES

Dynamic

Dynamic  is an adjective which means something is moving or changing.  In English grammar a "dynamic verb" means that the verb describes an action rather than a state. Dynamic verbs are sometimes known as "action verbs."

"Joe is chasing the bus."

"Joe is chasing the bus."

Stative

Stative is an adjective which describes something as having a state, or existing (this is a very uncommon adjective). In English grammar a "stative verb" means that the verb describes a state rather than an action. Stative verbs are sometimes known as "state verbs."

"Kevin wants some ice-cream."

"Kevin wants some ice-cream."

So now you know the meaning of the terms, let's look at some examples!

First, here is a list of some dynamic verbs. You can see that they are all used to describe an action, change, or process. Most of them are used to describe an activity which has a start and an end.

Examples of dynamic verbs:

eat

walk

learn

grow

sleep

talk

These words can all be used in the progressive form.

Example sentences with dynamic verbs:

"I can't talk right now, I'm eating dinner."

Present progressive used to describe an action happening now.

"Sorry, I'm out of breath because I've been running."

Present perfect progressive used to describe an action that started in the past, continued for some time and has results now.

"I didn't steal the necklace! I was sleeping when someone broke into the shop!"

Past progressive used to talk about an action that was happening at a particular time in the past.

Here is a list of some of the stative verbs. Some of these describe relationships between things or people (for example, own) and some describe emotions or states of mind.

Examples of stative verbs:

love

hate

like

prefer

doubt

seem

Example sentences:

"I think it is wrong to hit children."

Here, think is a stative verb. It means "to have an opinion" and it cannot be used in the progressive form in this case.

Here are some examples:

BE

§  Stative:
He is immature. (he is always immature)

§  Action:
He is being immature. (he is temporarily acting immature)

HAVE

§  Stative: possession
I have a car. He has a dog.

§  Action: expressions with “have”
I’m having breakfast (eating breakfast).
He’s having fun (experiencing fun).

SEE

§  Stative: perception with your eyes; understanding
I see some birds.
I see what you mean.

§  Action: meet; have a relationship with
I’ll be seeing the doctor tomorrow.
They’ve been seeing each other for a month.

THINK 

§  Stative: when talking about your opinion
I think that’s a great idea!
I feel that this is not the best use of our time.

§  Action: when using your mind, or experiencing emotions or health issues
We’re thinking about moving to another city.
I’ve been feeling unusually tired lately.

Example: We want to walk now.

1. Our book  (include) stories and exercises.
2. They  (remember) what happened.
3. We  (need) a longer rope.
4. You  (not deserve) it.
5.  he  (play) golf at the moment?
6. This  (not concern) us at the moment.
7. I  (love) you.
8. She  (feel) she's not good enough.
9. Our cakes  (not contain) any gluten.
10. They  (jog) now.

REPEATED AND DOUBLE COMPARATIVES

	REPEATED AND DOUBLE COMPARATIVES

Repeated comparatives 

You form it by repeating 'more' or 'short adjective+er'.He gets more and more nervous.It is getting colder and colder.

Comparative + anda + comparative

More and more + multisyllable adjective

Less and less+ multisyllable adjective.

Principio del formulario

1. He gets  (boring).

2. This book is getting  (interesting).

3. My daughter's English results are getting  (bad).

4. Sally arrives  (late) at work.

5. The weather is getting  (beautiful).

6. Your room is getting  (messy).

7. Milk is getting  (expensive).

8. I think films are getting  (violent).

9. It's getting  (difficult) to see him.

10. He is getting  (busy) at the moment.

11. I saw him yesterday. He feels  (good). 

Final del formulario

Double comparatives

Double comparatives are phrases commonly used in English to express increasing or decreasing returns. Double comparatives are often employed to underline the importance of doing or not doing a certain activity. Here are some examples of double comparatives:

The more you study, the more you learn.
The more time you take, the better the assignment your turn in.
The less money I spend, the less I have to worry about saving.
The less you worry about the others, the less they will bother you.

Using Double Comparatives

As you can see from these examples, the format of double comparatives is as follows:

The (more / less) + (noun / noun phrase) subject + verb + , + the (more / less) + (noun) subject + verb

Double comparatives with 'more' and 'less' can be used with adjectives in the same way. In this case, the structure places the comparative adjective first:

The + comparative adjective + (noun) + subject + verb, the + comparative adjective + it is + infinitive

The easier the test is, the longer students will wait to prepare.
The faster the car is, the more dangerous it is to drive.
The crazier the the idea is, the more fun it is to try.
The more difficult the task is, the sweeter it is to succeed.

These forms can be mixed up as well. For example, a double comparative might begin with a more / less plus a subject and then end in a comparative adjective plus the subject.

The more money he time he spends with her, the happier he becomes.
The less Mary thinks about the problem, the more relaxed she feels.
The more the students study for the test, the higher their scores will be.

Choose the correct answer to form the double comparatives.

1. ___________________, the more serious the problems become. a) The more raining it is b) The less it is rain c) The more it rains

2. The older he gets, ___________________ friends he has. a) the less b) the more c) the fewer

3. The more you pay, ___________________ the quality is. a) the more good b) the better c) better

4. ___________________ mistakes you make, the better your mark is. a) The fewer b) The less c) The more

5. The more I work, ___________________time I spend with my family. a) the more b) the less c) the fewer

6. The better I know him, ___________________ I like him. a) the fewer b) the more c) the gooder

7. _________________ candidates there were, the more difficult the exam was. a) The more b) The fewer c) The less

8. ___________________you drive, the more petrol the car uses. a) The more fast b) The faster c) The more

9. ___________________ she got, the nicer her children became to her. a) The more old b) The older c) The more older

10. ___________________ I waited, the more furious I got. a) The better b) The longer c) The fewer

REVIEW OF PAST TENSES

Pasado Simple - (Simple Past Tense)

El Pasado Simple es un tiempo verbal que se utiliza para describir acciones que han sucedido en un tiempo anterior y que ya han finalizado, por ejemplo:

She cleaned her house. Ella limpió su casa.
I broke the window. Yo rompí la ventana.

                                                
Aquí vemos su conjugación que en el español equivale al Pretérito Indefinido. Observa que la estructura de la oración es similar a la del Presente Simple:

Tanto en la forma interrogativa como en negativa se utiliza como auxiliarDID que es la forma pasada del verbo "TO DO" y acompaña al verbo principal en su forma infinitiva. En las negaciones puede utilizarse la forma contraída de DID NOT o sea DIDN'T. En el cuadro superior se emplea el verbo To Play (Jugar) a modo de ejemplo.

Al expresar una oración en Pasado Simple se entiende que la acción no guarda relación con el presente, como vemos en los siguientes casos:

He lost the keys. Él perdió las llaves.
(Puede que en el presente las haya encontrado).

She lent me a book. Ella me prestó un libro.
(Puede que ya se lo haya devuelto).

Pasado Continuo - (Past Continuous)

El Pasado Continuo, es un tiempo verbal que describe acciones que estaban siendo realizadas en un momento del pasado al que se hace referencia y que luego continuaron, por ejemplo:

Yesterday he was studying English. Ayer él estaba estudiando inglés.
(Comenzó a estudiar antes de ese momento y continuó estudiando posteriormente)

John was playing tennis at 10 a.m. John estuvo jugando tenis a las 10 a.m.
(Comenzó a jugar tenis antes de las 10 a.m. y continuó haciendolo después)

El Pasado Continuo se construye con el verbo auxiliar "to be" en su forma pasada y el verbo principal en infinitivo con la terminación ING

Simple Past
Affirmative	I cried.
Negative	I did not cry
Interrogative	Did I cry?
Form	Regular verbs: Verb + ed | Irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by heart. This is a list of irregular verbs
Uses	action in the past taking place once, never or several times actions taking place one after another

Past Progressive
Affirmative	He was driving.
Negative	He was not driving.
Interrogative	Was he driving?
Form	to be (in the simple past) + verb + ing
Uses	action going on at a certain time in the past actions taking place at the same time action in the past that is interrupted by another action

Past Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	He had been waiting.
Negative	He had not been waiting.
Interrogative	Had he been waiting?
Form	had + been + verb + ing
Uses	action taking place before a certain time in the past sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action

Exercises

Choose the correct verbs so that each tense appears once.
Simple past, past progressive, past perfect simple, past perfect progressive

1.     We  went were going had gone had been going  to the cinema last week.

2.     A bird pooed on the window that I   cleaned was cleaning had cleaned had been cleaning  only a minute before.

3.     Yesterday at nine he  sat was sitting had sat had been sitting  in front of his computer.

4.     When their mum got home, the boys  watched were watching had watched had been watching  TV for two hours.