T
HE
PROGRESSIVE
FORMS
OF
A
VERB
INDICATE
THAT
SOMETHING
IS
HAPPENING
or was happening or will be happening. When used with the past, the progressive form shows the limitedduration of an event: "While I was doing my homework, my brother came into my room." The past progressive also suggests that an action in the past was not entirely finished. (Compare "I did my homework." to "I was doing my homework.") This iseven more evident in the passive progressive construction: "He was being strangledin the alley" suggests an action that was not finished, perhaps because the act wasinterrupted by a good citizen, whereas the simple past "He was strangled in the alley"suggests an action that was finished, unfortunately. A neat categorization of the uses of the progressive can be found on the pagedescribing the “to be” verb.The progressive forms occur only with
dynamic verbs
, that is, with verbs thatshow qualities capable of change as opposed to
stative verbs
, which show qualitiesnot capable of change.* For instance, we do not say, "He is being tall" or "He isresembling his mother" or "I am wanting spaghetti for dinner" or "It is belonging tome." (We would say, instead: "He is tall," "He resembles his mother," "I wantspaghetti," and "It belongs to me.") The best way to understand the difference between stative and dynamic verbs is to look at a table that lists them and breaksthem into categories and then to build some sentences with them, trying out theprogressive forms to see if they work or not.
DYNAMIC VERBS Activity Verbs
I am begging you. I was learning French. They will beplaying upstairs.. Virtually identical in meaning to simple tense forms:I beg you. I learned French. They will play upstairs.abandonask begcalldrink eathelplearnlistenlook atplay rainreadsay slicethrow whisper work write
Process Verbs
The corn is growing rapidly. Traffic is slowing down. Virtually identical in meaning to simple present tenseforms:The corn grows rapidly. Traffic slows down.changedeteriorategrow matureslow down widen
Verbs of Bodily Sensation
"I feel bad" and "I am feeling bad" are virtually identical in
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