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A stative verb is one which asserts that one of its arguments has a particular property (possibly in relation to its other arguments). Statives differ from other aspectual
Grammatical aspect

In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb defines the temporal flow in the described event or state. In English, for example, the past-tense sentences "I swam" and "I was swimming" differ in aspect ....
 classes of verbs in that they are static; they have no duration and no distinguished endpoint. Verbs which are not stative are often called dynamic verb
Dynamic verb

A dynamic verb is a verb that shows continued or progressive Action on the part of the subject . The opposite of stative verb.Dynamic verbs have duration, that is, they occur over time....
s.

I am tired.
I have two children.
I like the color blue.
I think they want something to eat.
We believe in many Gods...
The case contains six bottles.
This would imply that we didn't care.


In languages where the copula is a verb, it is a stative verb, as is the case in English be.






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A stative verb is one which asserts that one of its arguments has a particular property (possibly in relation to its other arguments). Statives differ from other aspectual
Grammatical aspect

In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb defines the temporal flow in the described event or state. In English, for example, the past-tense sentences "I swam" and "I was swimming" differ in aspect ....
 classes of verbs in that they are static; they have no duration and no distinguished endpoint. Verbs which are not stative are often called dynamic verb
Dynamic verb

A dynamic verb is a verb that shows continued or progressive Action on the part of the subject . The opposite of stative verb.Dynamic verbs have duration, that is, they occur over time....
s.

Examples


Examples of sentences with stative verbs:
I am tired.
I have two children.
I like the color blue.
I think they want something to eat.
We believe in many Gods...
The case contains six bottles.
This would imply that we didn't care.


In languages where the copula is a verb, it is a stative verb, as is the case in English be. Some other English stative verbs are believe, know, seem, and have. All these generally denote states rather than actions. However, it should be noted that verbs like have and be, which are usually stative, can be dynamic in certain situations. Think is stative when it means "believe", but not when it means "consider". The following are not stative:

You are being silly.
She is having a baby.
Quiet please, I am thinking.


Some languages morphologically
Morphology (linguistics)

Morphology is the identification, analysis and description of structure of words . While words are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in most languages, words can be related to other words by rules....
 distinguish stative and dynamic verbs, or transform one into another. Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
, for example, can use the same verbal root
Root (linguistics)

The root is the primary lexicology unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantics content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
 to mean ride (stative) and mount (dynamic).

Propositions that are expressed in most Indo-European languages by noun qualifiers (such as adjective
Adjective

In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntax role is to grammatical modifier a noun or pronoun, giving more information about the noun or pronoun's definition....
s) are instead expressed by stative verbs in many other languages. In Japanese
Japanese language

IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
, so-called i-adjectives are in fact best analyzed as intransitive
Intransitive verb

In grammar, an intransitive verb does not take an Object . In more technical terms, an intransitive verb has only one verb argument , and hence has a valency of one....
 stative verbs (for example, takai alone means "is high/expensive", and samukunakatta means was not cold).

Static versus dynamic


The same verb may act as stative or dynamic. An English phrase like "he plays the piano" may be either stative or dynamic, according to context.

Some languages use the same verbs for dynamic and stative situations, while other use different (if often etymologically related) verbs with some kind of qualifiers to distinguish between the usages. A stative verb is often intransitive, while a corresponding one would be transitive. Compare, for example, modern English with modern Danish.

DanishEnglish
dynamic/transitive stative/intransitive dynamic/transitive stative/intransitive
lægge ligge lay (something down) lie/be lying
sætte sidde set/put (something somewhere) sit/be sitting
stille stå stand/put (something in an upright position) stand


Formal definitions

In some theories of formal semantics
Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in communication. The word is derived from the Greek language word s??a?t???? , "significant", from s??a??? , "to signify, to indicate" and that from s??a , "sign, mark, token"....
, including David Dowty
David Dowty

David Dowty is a linguist known primarily for his work in semantics and syntax theory, and especially in Montague grammar and Categorial grammar....
's, stative verbs have a logical
Logic

Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and inference. Logic is a branch of philosophy, a part of the classical Trivium . The word derives from Greek language ?????? , fem....
 form which is the lambda expression

Apart from Dowty, Z. Vendler and C. S. Smith have also written influential work on aspectual classification of verbs.

English


Dowty's analysis

Dowty gives some tests to decide whether an English verb is stative. They are as follows:

  • Statives do not occur in the progressive (the * before a sentence means that it is ungrammatical
    Grammar

    Grammar is the field of linguistics that covers the conventions governing the use of any given natural language. It includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics....
     or absurd to most native English speakers):
    • John is running. (non-stative)
    • *John is knowing the answer.
  • They cannot be complements of "force":
    • I forced John to run.
    • *I forced John to know the answer.
  • They do not occur as imperatives.
    • Run!
    • *Know the answer!
(This is not entirely accurate; the phrase "Know thyself!", for example, is correct English.)
  • They cannot appear in the pseudo-cleft construction:
    • What John did was run.
    • *What John did was know the answer.


See also

  • Aktionsart
    Aktionsart

    The lexical aspect, or aktionsart , of a verb is a part of the way in which that verb is structured in relation to time. Any event, state, process, or action a verb expresses?collectively, any eventuality?may also be said to have the same lexical aspect....
  • Copula
    Copula

    In linguistics, a copula is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate . Although it might not itself express an action or condition, it serves to equate the subject with the predicate....
  • Dynamic verb
    Dynamic verb

    A dynamic verb is a verb that shows continued or progressive Action on the part of the subject . The opposite of stative verb.Dynamic verbs have duration, that is, they occur over time....