Look, what Gobbledygook has to say today.....

Gobbledygook:Powered by Eezee English Zone
By Ranjana S.

He's bent upon teaching us about "State verbs and Action verbs". Let's lend our ears to him.

Gobbledygook says.....

§  States- A state means which stays the same.

  

       »» The boy owns a bike.

       »» The house is immaculate.

       »» The container contained oil.

*** State verbs cannot usually be continuous.

    We can't say- The boy is owning a bike.

§  Actions- An action means something happening.

  

         »»  The boy is cleaning his bike.

         »» The maid is decorating the house.

         »» We put the oil in the container.

*** Action verbs can be simple or continuous.

     She decorates/ She was decorating the house.

State verbs:

 Understand, seem, resemble, matter, mean, like, love, hate, belong, consist of, depend on, exist, know, own, need, prefer, remember, deserve, belong, believe, be.

Let's clarify the difference with the help of some illustrations:

STATES---- (simple tenses).

§  I think she is pretty (you believe).

§  We have two houses ( you own).

§  I come from India (you live).

§  I see her perspective (you understand)

§  This painting looks nice.

§  He appears scared ( it seems)

§  The bag weighed ten kilos.

§  The coat fits (it's the right size).

ACTIONS--- ( simple or continuous).

      §  I'm thinking about your problem.

§  We're having dinner (eating).

§  I'm coming from India (travelling).

§  Maria is seeing Dennis (meeting).

§  I see Michelle quite often (meet).

§  I'm looking at the portrait.

§  She was appearing/appeared pensive.

§  The custom officials were weighing/weighed my bag.

§  I'm fiiting a lock to the window.

    

 These examples with the verb 'be' are about people's behaviour.

»»»»»Permanent behaviour:

§  Charlotte is a gregarious person.

§  That boy is a nincompoop.

»»»»»Temporary behaviour:

§  Charlotte is being very gregarious today.

§  That boy is being a nincompoop this morning.

We use am/are/is being only to talk about behaviour, not about other things.

§  I'm better today.

§  Are you prepared?

§  Is anyone interested?

We can use some state verbs in the continuous to talk about a short period of time:

»»»»»Permanent state( simple tenses)

§  I love sufi songs.

§  I enjoy ice-creams.

§  Holidays cost a lot of money.

»»»»»Temporary state( continuous )

§  I'm loving the song you've played.

§  I'm enjoying ice cream at the parlor.

§  This trip is costing me a lot of money.

Look at the conversation below to give a clear understanding about State verbs and Action verbs:

 Anna: Hi, Joe. What do you look at---x

 What are you looking at?

 Joe: Oh, hi. These are paper cuttings of  automobiles. You know I have a fascination for such    collections.

 Ann: Oh, look at this car. I'm thinking-----x

 I think this one is awesome.

Joe: Look here. I'm having------x

I have some more pictures here.

Ann: Why didn't you stick this car's picture in your collection?

Joe: Actually, this picture was too large. It  wasn't fitting-----x. It didn't fit properly.

Ann: Oh, I'm seeing----x I see. You are seeming------x. 

You seem to be very happy to pursue your hobby.

Joe: Yep, I'm having a huge collection------x

I have a huge collection and I'm thinking of expanding it.

Ann: Great!!

Happy Verb-ing!!!!