Grammar I Graciela Palacio

LV/UB 2012

LESSON 7:
STATES VS EVENTS

A state is a situation that holds or exists, without change, for some time. States lack stages or
phases and they are durative. Examples of states are be happy, own a house, have green eyes,
etc. This information can be expressed by means of features, semantic features in this case,
e.g.:

Own a house: [- stages], [+ durative]1

States can also be represented graphically by means of an unbroken line, e.g.:

Events, on the other hand, are dynamic situations. They happen, occur or take place at a
certain time and in a certain place. They don’t exist as concrete objects do. They involve
participants. Examples of events are a party, a demonstration, a meeting, a lesson, an invasion,
etc.

WHICH VERBS TEND TO DENOTE STATES?

1. The verb be:

The whale is a mammal. (permanent characteristic) (cf. Spanish: ser)

I am tired. (temporary state) (cf. in Spanish: estar)

2. Verbs of perception such as see, hear, smell, taste, feel when they refer to a situation which
involves no energy or will. Consider the following examples:

I can see somebody at the door.

From here, I can hear the noise of the traffic.
Can you smell something burning?
I can taste the garlic in this stew.
I feel sad.

3. Verbs that express emotions such as like, love, dislike, hate, loathe, detest, hope, want, etc.
These verbs are called modality verbs and they express what is technically called volition:

I like chocolate.
I want to go to the cinema.

4. Verbs that express knowledge or lack of knowledge such as know, believe, think, expect,
seem, find, etc. These verbs are another type of modality verbs and they express cognition:

1
Durative is a feature, the + or – sign placed before the feature is a value for that feature. The [+] value
indicates that the feature is present, the [–] value indicates that the feature is absent.

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 I believe that he is a liar.
Sue thinks that the film is excellent.
She seems happy.
She looks happy.

WHICH VERBS TEND TO DENOTE EVENTS?

1. Verbs which denote activities. Activities are situations such as walk in the park, work,
which are durative but which do not culminate2, e.g.:
John is working.
Ann is playing in her room.

When these verbs combine with be + ing they express what is known as imperfective
aspect, i.e. they present a situation as on-going, in progress, without including the
culmination point.

2. Momentary verbs such as hiccough, hit, jump, kick, knock, nod, sneeze, tap wink, etc. These
are verbs that denote events that have little duration, that being the reason why they are
called ‘momentary’. When they are used in the imperfective aspect, they denote a series of
events, rather than a single event. Compare:

He nodded. (a single event)

He was nodding. (a series of events, a repeated movement)

He jumped clear of the car. (a single event)

He was jumping for joy. (a series of events, a repeated movement)

3. Transitional-event verbs such as die, arrive, leave, fall, land, stop, etc. These verbs
resemble momentary verbs in that they also denote events that have little duration. However,
when used in the imperfective aspect, they express that the entity is approaching a transition
into a new state (i.e. a change into a new state) rather than the transition itself.

The man was dying.

The helicopter was landing.
The bus is stopping.

4. Verbs of attention, which contrast with verbs of perception, such as look, listen, smell, taste,
and feel, e.g.:

I’m looking at some photos.

Listen to me.
Smell this perfume to see if you like it.
Taste this. (cf. probá)
Feel this material to see if it is soft enough for the baby.

2
A situation that culminates is said to be telic. A situation that does not culminate is called atelic. See lesson 43
(Inflectional Categories of the Verb).

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We look at something because we want to, not simply because we have got eyes. We listen to
somebody or something again because we want to, not simply because we have got ears. All
these actions are done voluntarily.

5. Process verbs such as change, grow, get, turn, etc.

It is getting late.
The weather is changing for the better.
The little boy grew tired.
He turned traitor.

STANCE VERBS
Stance verbs (e.g. sit, stand, lie, live, stay and carry, hold, keep, wear) are very special verbs.
They can denote states or events.

They are interpreted as stative when they denote a position or location:

The books were lying on the table. (temporary position)

The town lies on the coast. (permanent position)

At the moment, I’m living with my parents. (temporary location)

My brother lives in London. (permanent location)

Notice that although they can combine with -ing (imperfective aspect), they are still interpreted
as stative verbs denoting a temporary position. However, when they combine with an adverbial
particle such as up, down, back (e.g. stand up, sit down, etc) they are recategorized as dynamic,
because they denote a change of state:

She sat up in bed.

Sit down.
She sat back and relaxed.

Note 1:
Notice that hope is a modality verb expressing volition, whereas expect is a modality verb
expressing cognition.

I can’t go out now. I am expecting a phone call. (I know that somebody will call)
I hope I can find a parking space. (I want to find a parking space but I do not know if
there will be one.)

Note 2:
Verbs of perception are complex. According to Smith (1991) they denote states if they refer to
a situation which involves no energy or will (see previous examples) but they can also denote
events when they refer to a change into a state of perception, e.g.:

I can see somebody at the door. (stative)

Suddenly, I saw John. (dynamic)

Note 3:

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Sometimes a verb is [- durative] and cannot combine with the imperfective aspect but as long
as there is a change of state, the situation can be regarded as an event and it is therefore [+
dynamic], e.g.:

I’ve found the keys. (change of state: now I know where they are)
*I’m finding the keys.

TESTS TO TELL DYNAMIC VERBS FROM STATIVE VERBS:

1. Dynamic verbs can be combined with –ing to express what is technically called imperfective
aspect. Stative verbs cannot:

He is persuading her to come.

*He is believing that I came.

2. Dynamic verbs can be used in the imperative. Stative verbs cannot:

Persuade him to come.

Buy a TV.
*Believe that he came.
*Like grammar.

3. Dynamic verbs accept manner adverbials such as carefully, attentively, conscientiously,

painstakingly3, etc. Stative verbs don’t:

He painstakingly persuaded me to come.

*He painstakingly believed that I came.

John carefully washed his car.

*John carefully knew Greek.

4. Dynamic verbs accept the negation of permission. Stative verbs don’t:

He may not go to the cinema. (may has to be unstressed, the stress falls on not)
*He may not believe that I came. (= he has no permission to believe…)

He may not believe that I came. (this is possible because if may is stressed it expresses
possibility: = It may be the case/ it is possible that he doesn’t believe that I came)

5. Dynamic verbs can be pronominalized by do so. Stative verbs cannot:

John persuaded me to come but Mary didn’t do so.

*John believed that I came but Mary didn’t do so.

6. Dynamic verbs can become the focus of pseudo-cleft sentences (i.e. emphatic sentences
which contain a -wh clause). Stative verbs cannot:

What he did was persuade me to come.

3
Painstaking: adj. [usually before noun] needing a lot of care, effort and attention to detail: The event had been
planned with painstaking attention to detail. Painstakingly: adv.

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 *What he did was believe that I came.

What you must do is learn Spanish.

*What you must do is know Spanish.

7. Dynamic verbs can be used as the complement of verbs such as persuade or commanded:

I persuaded Mary to wash her car.

*I persuaded Mary to know Greek.

This is a first characterization which will leave you with a lot of questions. What we will see
later is that what can really be characterized as stative or dynamic is the type of situation that
the sentence expresses. And very often this characterization does not depend on the verb alone
but on the verb and the elements that combine with it. The verb and the number of elements
that combine with it form what is called in semantics the proposition. If a verb is dynamic, we
will say that the sentence expresses a dynamic (or movement) proposition. If a verb is stative,
we will say that the sentence expresses a stative (or locative) proposition.

From now onwards, you will have to state in the semantic analysis if the proposition expressed
by the sentence is stative or dynamic. The semantic analysis of a sentence should look as
follows:

1. John sneezed.
Semantic analysis:
Predicator: sneeze (one-place verb)
Arguments: John (only one)
Argument Structure of sneeze: <1>
Proposition: dynamic

2. John killed Bill.

Semantic analysis:
Predicator: kill (two-place verb)
Arguments: John, Bill (two arguments)
Argument Structure of kill: <1, 2>
Proposition: dynamic

3. John gave Bill the book.

Semantic analysis:
Predicator: give (three-place verb)
Arguments: John, Bill, the book (three)
Argument Structure of give: <1, 2, 3>
Proposition: dynamic

4. John told Bill the truth.

Semantic analysis:
Predicator: tell (three-place verb)
Arguments: John, Bill, the truth (three)
Argument Structure of tell: <1, 2, 3>
Proposition: dynamic

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5. John put the book on the table.
Semantic analysis:
Predicator: put (three-place verb)
Arguments: John, the book, on the table (three)
Argument Structure of put: <1, 2, 3>
Proposition: dynamic

6. John is tall.
Semantic analysis:
Predicator: tall (one-place adjective)
Arguments: John (only one)
Argument Structure of tall: <1>
Proposition: stative

7. John is fond of Mary.

Semantic analysis:
Predicator: fond (two-place adjective)
Arguments: John, Mary
Argument Structure of fond: <1, 2>
Proposition: stative

8. John is a doctor.
Semantic analysis:
Predicator: a doctor (one-argument predicative determiner phrase)
Arguments: John
Argument Structure of a doctor: <1 >
Proposition: stative

Now how can you justify your analysis? Here you have some help:

Possible justifications for stative propositions:

1. I know the truth.

The proposition is stative because know is a modality verb expressing cognition.

2. I love chocolate.
The propositon is stative because love is a modality verb expressing volition.

3. I am aware that he is dishonest.

The main proposition is stative because aware is a modality adjective expressing
cognition.

4. I am glad that you can come to my party.

The main proposition is stative because glad is a modality adjective expressing
volition.

5. The tiger in that cage is dangerous.

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 The proposition is stative because dangerous is an adjective denoting a property and
because the verb be is a typical stative verb.

6. From my bedroom, I can see a river and lovely park.

The proposition is stative because see is a very of perception.

Possible justifications for a dynamic or movement proposition:

1. The door opened.

The proposition is dynamic. Open denotes a change of position.

2. John opened the door.

The proposition is dynamic because there is a causative meaning in the sentence. It can
be paraphrased as John caused the door to change its position.

3. The snow melted.

The proposition is dynamic. Melt denotes a change of state. The snow went from one
state to another. There is movement.

4. The sun melted the snow.

The proposition is dynamic because there is a causative meaning in the sentence. It can
be paraphrased as The sun caused the snow to change its state.

5. The child is crying.

The proposition is dynamic because the sentence denotes an activity. The semantic
features are [+dynamic], [+durative], and the situation does not culminate. Besides cry
is a verb of emission. Verbs of emission require an input of energy.

6. He went to the supermarket.

The proposition is dynamic because go is a verb of directed motion. The subject is an
entity that traverses a path.

7. The baby is crawling.

The proposition is dynamic because the sentence denotes an activity. The semantic
features are [+dynamic], [+durative], and the situation does not culminate. Besides
crawl is a verb of manner of motion.

More complex examples:

1. Fish swim.
Although swim in isolation is a verb that would denote an activity, in this case the
proposition is stative because it has been combined with simple present. The sentence
denotes a property of fish.

2. I saw John yesterday.

Although see is a verb of perception, the proposition is dynamic because it has been
combined with simple past so the sentence denotes an event.

3. John knows the truth.

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 The proposition is stative. Know is a modality verb expressing cognition.

4. I knew John’s car immediately.

The proposition is dynamic. Know means “recognize” here and it denotes an event.
Notice the presence of the adverb immediately.

Lesson 7 Activity 1:
Be ready to answer the following questions in class:
1. What is a state?
2. What is an event?
3. What’s the difference between a verb of perception and a verb of attention?
4. What is a momentary verb?
5. What is a transitional event verb?
6. What is a modality verb? How many modalities can we distinguish?
7. Mention at least three tests that help you distinguish a stative from a dynamic verb.
8. Some verbs such as find, which are [- durative], cannot be used in the imperfective
aspect. Is that an indication that the verb denotes a stative situation?

Lesson 7 Activity 2: (to be discussed in class)

Analyse the following sentences from a semantic point of view:
1. Can you taste the food to see if it has enough salt?
2. Jack ran a race.
3. Jack won the race.
4. Lucy is rude.
5. Lucy is being rude.

Lesson 7 Activity 3: (to be handed in as Assignment 7)

Analyse the following sentences from a semantic point of view:
1. I’m learning Japanese.
2. I know Japanese.
3. I know Peter.
4. I met him at a party.

REFERENCES:
Nilsen, D & A. P. Nilsen (1975) Semantic Theory: A Linguistic Perspective. Rowley, Mass:
Newbury House.
Smith, C. (1991) The Parameter of Aspect. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Leech, G. (1971) Meaning and the English Verb (second edition). Longman.

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