Shikinokami wrote...
I think it was "object" rather than specifying. Was that "object"? A subject? Something else? Then there's progressive, dynamic, and stative, which I don't know what they're either.
Okay the examples provided that discussed transitive and intransitive verbs were:
[6]
She likes
me. (This is an object)
[7]
He[ dances
well. (This is an adverb modifying the verb dances)
For more information on what an object an subject is can be found in the second chapter because that's primarily what it deals with, but those in italics above are subjects.
The term: Progressive
Progressive (also called continuous) is the term (combined with the tense of past, present, and future) that is used to describe (in very narrow terms, because there's more on this, on everything really) something that is ongoing. It is formed by an auxiliary verb (such as
be) and the
-ing form of a the main verb:
[1] He
is going to the store. (this is present progressive)
[2] She
was writing a letter early. (this is past progressive)
[3] I
will be trying to finish the grammar guide by [some unspecified date]. (future progressive)
This will be explored in
Verbs (cont.), which, once it's finished, might be incorporated into the first chapter.
Stative vs. Dynamic
Dynamic verbs describe an action. Something is being done/happening in some way:
[1] He
burned my house down. ('burned' is dynamic; someone is doing something)
[2] I
was lying on the beach. ('was lying' states that I was doing something)
[3] She
lived[i] in Cambridge when the plague happened.
Stative verbs describe states or situations and are sometimes referred to as state of being verbs. They are little more complicated though as this quote and the examples show:
Stative verbs are verbs that express a state rather than an action. They usually relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being and measurements. These verbs are not usually used with ing in progressive (continuous=progressive) tenses even though they may take on time expressions such as now and at the moment.
Quote is from here
[1] I [i]believe him.
[2] I am happy.
[3] She smells sweet.
I mentioned in the first chapter that stative verbs share many verbs that belong to the class of copular verbs. According to the lists in the links below, the intersection of stative and copular verbs is:
appear, be, feel, seem, sound, and
taste. Now when it was said that stative verbs can't take progressive, it means they can't (normally) do this:
Both dynamic and stative verbs can be classified as copular [1], transitive [2], or intransitive [3].
For dynamic verbs:
[1] He became a hero.
[1a] He was becoming a hero. (can take the progressive, √)
[2] She drew a picture.
[2a] She was drawing a picture. (progressive, √)
[3] They swam in the ocean.
[3a] They were swimming in the ocean. (progressive, √)
For stative verbs:
[1] He is Christopher Marlowe.
[1a] He is being Christopher Marlowe. (can't take the progressive, *)
[2] I wish
that she was nice. (The words in italics are acting as an object)
[2a] I am wishing that she was nice. (can't take the progressive, *)
[3] I hear well. (no object)
[3a] I am hearing well. (nope, *)
However,
this discuses
hear's use as both dynamic and stative verbs.
list of copular verbs
list of stative verbs
Sorry I took a long time to respond. I played a game while mulling over how I'd go about answering your questions. I'll see about updating the topic, once we've gotten through this.