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Events Examples PDF
Events Examples PDF
The first four classes are based on Vendler and are sometimes called the Vendler event
classes. The last class, semelfactive, was added later.
There are four classes of eventualities (situation types) according to Vendler. The first is a
state; opposed to a state are events. A state is an eventuality in which there is no perceptible
change. For example:
1. Syntax is boring.
This is a statement; it merely describes a property of syntax (as experienced by some people) and
it does not denote any change of state.
Opposed to states are events. Events do denote that something changes. Events are divided
most often into three classes: activity, accomplishment, achievement. An activity does not
denote a goal. Consider the following sentence:
There is no goal here. Painting is an activity. Of course, a set of objects that Henry likes to paint
is implied. If the object is expressed, the activity becomes an accomplishment:
Here, the house is the goal. Verbs that denote goals are called telic. Activity verbs are non-telic
verbs.
Verbs that mark accomplishments and achievements are telic. The distinction between
accomplishments and achievements is difficult to define. The following sentence denotes an
achievement:
Achievements do not mark duration. Neither in nor for can modify an achievement marking
duration:
Painting is something you can do for a period of time; arriving you can't. Note that if for NP
follows the goal, it may refer to an intended stay:
This means the ambassador intends to be in London for an hour; it does not mean he spent an
hour arriving there, which of course makes no sense. Similarly, in an hour may refer to the time
he will arrive in reference to the speech event:
(11) is ambiguous. It means the Henry almost started to paint the house, but didn't apply any
paint, or it means the he had been painting the house and was nearly complete when he stopped.
(12) does not get this reading. It only means that the ambassador that the ambassador nearly
arrived there but he didn't actually arrive.
type goal duration habitual stop finish ambiguity carefully 'X-ed' 'X-ed imperative examples
+ + w/almost attentively implies in time'
deliberately 'X-ed' implies
obediently true for has
at all been
points 'X-ing'
of X. in time
state no for a no yes no no no -- -- no Be hot
goal while; /tall/thin;
⃰in a feel, see,
while love
activity no for a yes yes no no yes yes -- yes Walk,
goal while; paint,
⃰in a write,
while sing
accomplishment goal ⃰for a yes yes yes yes yes no yes yes walk to
NP, fly
while;
to NP,
in a
paint NP,
while
write NP,
eat NP
achievement: goal/ cannot yes no no no no -- no no arrive,
no agent no mark succeed,
goal duration reach,
recognise
achievement- goal cannot yes forced forced forced yes yes no yes Come,
agent mark yes yes leave, sit
down,
duration resign
semelfactive goal yes no no no no no no no yes break,
knock, hit
Duration: for marks duration but no goal; in marks duration to the goal.
Habitual: Can mark a habiutal event in the unmarked form (no '--ing').
Stop + ______..: yes means that the type can occur as a complement of stop.
Finish + ______: yes means that the type can occur as a complement of finish.
Carefully, attentively, deliberately, obediently: yes means the verb can be modified by the
adverbs.
'X-ed' implies 'X-ed' true for at all points of X.: yes means the at any time during the activity it is
possible to say that it is true if one says he has done the activity (see below):
implies Mary pushed the baby carriage at all points while in the park. This an activity; it is not an
accomplishment.
17. Mary pushed the baby-carriage to the park.
does not imply that Mary pushed the baby-to the park (reached the goal) at all times while
pushing the baby-carriage.
implies he was painting the house in the two hours it took him to complete the task.
Imperatives are good for activities, accomplishments, and semelfactives, but not for states and
achievements.
Although the end point might not be completed, an achievement cannot focus on the duration of
this. Arrive is an achievement verb. One can say:
where for five minutes implies duration, and in five minutes refers to the time perdt too mlee the
event.
However, it possible to place the durative PPs after Bucharest in which case it does not modify
the duration of the verb:
19. means that the ambassador will be in Bucharest for five minutes. 20 means that five minutes
after the speech event, the ambassador will arrive in Bucharest.
does nto imply that the ambasador has arrived. (see push).
does not imply that the ambassador took five minutes to arrived.
Semelfactive verbs, also called momentary verbs or punctual verbs, are verbs whose event
occurs once (in context) and last a hsort period of time, so short that the present progressive
aspect cannot be used. By the time the event has occurred it is over and the past tense is
necessary:
(22) indicates that someone has just knocked once on the door (hence past tense), and (23)
indicates that someone is knocking repetitively on the door. In the iterature progressive form, it
can have the semelfactive meaning:
30. Tonight we are knocking (once) on doors; tomorrow we will be phoning them.
The present tense means that the process of the iterative semelfactives events is going on; it does
not refer to an individual event here.
An accomplishment verb implies a goal. It focusses on the duration leading up to the end point
of the event. The goal is reason for the accomplishment. Activity verbs do not do this. For
example:
Push in (8) is an activity; it is not an accomplishment. It does not denote a goal. Through the
park is not a goal. (9), on the other hand, does denote a goal--the baby-buggy is the goal of
dismantling. There is an interesting implication in the progressive aspect:
In (33) it is implied that Milly pushed the baby-buggy at any point in time of pushing. (34) does
not denote this. The baby-buggy is not dismantled until the event is completed. That is, halfway
through dismantling the baby-buggy, you cannot say:
35. *Milly had dismantled the baby-buggy when she was half done dismantling it.
Here, to the store is a goal. Sleep is an activity that can never be extended to an accomplishment:
Another test for accomplishment verbs is that the past tense form modified by in + NP-temoral
implies that the progressive from is true:
implies that at any point in time two hours preceding the completion of painting the house, John
was indeed painting the house. This is not true for achievement verb. 'In+NP' does refer to the
duration of the event.
In and for are prepositions marking duration. The marking of duration is optional for
accomplishments; impossible for achievements. A semelfactie verb is simultaneous with G.
Many verbs can shift from one class to another depending on their transitivity status. For
example, if an activity verb takes a direct object marked and a goal is implied, the verb becomes
an accomplishment. Note that the house is a patient:
44. John painted the house all day (activity, no goal implied)
45. John painted the house in an hour. (accomplishment, in an hour implies a goal)
46. John finished painting the house. (accomplishment, finish implies a goal)
47. John painted the house today. (an accomplishment if completion is implied)
50. *Mary pushed the baby buggy in an hour. (Here, the theme cannot be the goal).
(51). Mary pushed the baby buggy to the ice-cream parlour. (accomplishment, to NP implies a
goal.
This is the case in the unlikely reading that pushing a baby buggy is in itself a goal; that is, there
is something to gain from pushing the baby buggy as opposed to some other object.
(56). Milly won the game last night (in 5 minutes). (accomplishment).
Most achievement verbs of the motion class cannot take direct objects: