Dynamic verbs vs. stative verbs

 can cause confusion among students
But really they aren't as difficult or as complicated as you may think.

The most important reason you need to know about these is because stative verbs can't usually be used in the progressive form. But more about that later!

Firstly, what do the words "dynamic" and "stative" mean?  

They aren't very common words in everyday English, but they are grammar terms you will need to know to understand this subject. 

Dynamic

"Dynamic" is an adjective which means something is moving or changing. 

In English grammar a "dynamic verb" means that the verb describes an action rather than a state. Dynamic verbs are sometimes known as "action verbs."

"Joe is chasing the bus."

Stative

"Stative" is an adjective which describes something as having a state, or existing (this is a very uncommon adjective). 

In English grammar a "stative verb" means that the verb describes a staterather than an action.

Stative verbs are sometimes known as "state verbs." 

"Kevin wants some ice-cream."

So now you know the meaning of the terms, let's look at some examples!

First, here is a list of some dynamic verbs. You can see that they are all used to describe an action, change, or process. Most of them are used to describe an activity which has a start and an end. 

Examples of dynamic verbs:

• eat
• walk
• learn
• grow
• sleep
• talk
• write
• run
• read
• become
• go

These words can all be used in the progressive form. 

Example sentences with dynamic verbs:

• "I can't talk right now, I'm eating dinner."
  Present progressive used to describe an action happening now.
  
• "Sorry, I'm out of breath because I've been running."
  Present perfect progressive used to describe an action that started in the past, continued for some time and has results now.
  
• "I didn't steal the necklace! I was sleeping when someone broke into the shop!"
  Past progressive used to talk about an action that was happening at a particular time in the past.

Here is a list of some of the stative verbs. Some of these describe relationships between things or people (for example, own) and some describe emotions or states of mind.

Examples of stative verbs:

• love
• hate
• like
• prefer
• doubt
• seem
• know
• own
• understand

Here are some examples, showing that these words cannot be used in the progressive form.

Correct: "I like chocolate, but I prefer cake."
Incorrect: "I'm liking chocolate but I'm preferring cake."

Correct: "I don't understand you when you speak quickly."
Incorrect: "I'm not understanding you when you speak quickly."

There are also some verbs that can be either dynamic or stative, depending on their meaning and context in the sentence. I'm sure you know by now that there are many words in English that can have more than one meaning!

Examples of verbs that can be either dynamic or stative:

• think
• mind
• have
• smell
• sound

Let's look at some examples of how these verbs are used differently.

Example sentences:

• "I think it is wrong to hit children."
  Here, think is a stative verb. It means "to have an opinion" and it cannot be used in the progressive form in this case.
  
  BUT
  
  "I'm thinking about buying a new car."
  Here, thinking is describing a process, or an action. This is something that is happening, rather than simply being. So here we can use the progressive form.
  
• "I don't mind if we watch a movie tonight."
  Here, mind means "be bothered by", which is a state of mind, not an action. Therefore, it is stative.
  
  BUT
  
  "I'm not being nosy. I'm minding my own business!"
  Here, minding means "looking after" and is therefore a process and a dynamic verb.
  
• "I have three brothers."
  Have here talks about the family relationship the speaker has with her brothers and is therefore stative.
  
  BUT
  
  "I'm having a bad day today. I'll call you when things are better."
  
  Having in this sentence means the speaker is going through the process of a bad day. It is therefore dynamic.

All this may seem complicated, but if you read and listen to as much English as you can, you will soon start to know which verbs sound right in the progressive. If you keep the basic idea of dynamic verbs vs. static verbs in the back of your mind, it will help you greatly.

Now, let's practice!

Dynamic verbs and stative verbs exercises

Reminder: 

• Actions that are in progress now => present progressive
  
  Example: We are walking right now.
  
• States that occur now => simple present
  
  Example: We want to walk now.

WHAT ARE REPEATED COMPARATIVES?

1. Repeated comparatives 

     All of them are used to describe actions and things that are increasing or decreasing. In order to find more information about it you can review the website:

http://speakspeak.com/grammar-articles/better-and-better-more-and-more-repeating-comparative-adjectives-to-show-change.

1.1 INCREASING

To indicate that something is increasing we can apply two structures: er and er / more and more.

a) …….er and …….er

To form this structure we have to add “er” to the adjective to form a comparative adjective. It is used with adjectives and short adverbs; such as, closer and closer, longer and longer.

Examples:

She is getting closer and closer of her mother.

By the end of the twentieth century, couples were waiting longer and longer to marry.

b) more and more

We can use this structure with long adjectives or adverbs ; for example, more and more difficult, more and more slowly.

Examples:

It’s becoming more and more difficult.

He is going more and more slowly.

1.2 DECREASING

In order to indicate that something is decreasing we can use the following structures: fewer and fewer, less and less.

a) Fewer and fewer

It is used with countable nouns.

Example:

Fewer and fewer children are leaving school.

b) Less and less

It is used with uncountable nouns and adjectives.

Example:

He needs less and less money everyday.

                WHAT ARE DOUBLE COMPARATIVES?

                             

2. Double comparatives

Double comparatives describe a cause and effect process. Also, they are written as a sentence with a comma separating the cause and the effect. The structure to use them is the following:

     [the + comparative form] + (subject) + (verb), [the + comparative form] + (subject) + (verb)] 

If you want to find more information about this kind of comparative you can check the website: https://englishwithdickandjane.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/double-comparatives-english-grammar/

Examples:

The more education women get, the later they marry.

The less children studied, the more slowly they learned.

Listado de Phrasal Verbs con traducción al español Los Phrasal Verbs son verbos a los que acompaña un adverbio (phrasal verb) o preposición (prepositional verb) modificando el sentido del verbo al que acompañan. Estas expresiones se forman combinando verbos con preposiciones o con adverbios. El significado de estos verbos compuestos puede ser muy distinto al que podríamos deducir del significado individual del verbo y preposición (o adverbio) de los que se compone. La importancia de los phrasal verbs radica en que tienen un uso muy común en inglés. Ten presente también que un mismo phrasal verb puede tener varios significados. En este apartado, dispones de una lista de los principales phrasal verbs en inglés con su traducción o equivalencia al español que puedes también descargar gratis en PDF. Accede a una recopilación completa de los principales Phrasal Verbs en inglés explicados en español (con ejemplos e imágenes).  Cómo aprender los Phrasal Verbs en inglés

*Practica los phrasal verbs  con Ejercicios resueltos de Phrasal Verbs.

ADD UP	totalizar	ADD UP TO	alcanzar un total
ANSWER BACK	contestar de malos modos	ANSWER FOR	responder de
ASK ABOUT	preguntar por (un asunto)	ASK AFTER	preguntar por la salud
ASK FOR	pedir, preguntar por	ASK UP TO	pedir hasta (un precio)
ASK BACK	invitar a volver	ASK DOWN	invitar a bajar
ASK IN	invitar a entrar	ASK OUT	invitar a salir
ASK UP	invitar a subir
BACK AWAY	retroceder	BACK OUT	volver atrás
BACK UP	reforzar	BE ABOUT	estar por (un lugar)
BE AWAY	estar fuera	BE BACK	estar de vuelta
BE FOR	estar a favor de	BE IN	estar en casa
BE OFF	irse, estar apagado	BE ON	estar encendido
BE OUT	estar fuera	BE OVER	estar acabado
BE UP	estar levantado	BEND DOWN	agacharse
BEND OVER	inclinarse	BLOW AWAY	llevarse (el viento)
BLOW DOWN	derrumbarse por el viento	BLOW OFF	dejar salir (el vapor)
BLOW OUT	apagar (se) (una llama)	BLOW UP	volar (con explosivos)
BREAK AWAY	soltarse English Exercises > exercises > SO, SUCH, TOO, ENOUGH   English Exercises presents our new interactive self-correcting worksheets and workbooks. You'll love them, and so will your students! SO-SUCH-TOO-ENOUGH paugyg Such-So Too-Enough Sentence Transformations estherlee76 Discover all them in liveworksheets.com EnglishExercises.org presents Liveworksheets.com: Online worksheets with interactive exercises, sounds, video and self-correction.   ***SO...THAT / SUCH...THAT / TOO / ENOUGH*** (B&W+KEY included) Level: elementary Age: 9-14 Downloads: 820   Words denoting quality and quantity. Level: intermediate Age: 9-17 Downloads: 331   Rephrasing too - enough - so - such Level: advanced Age: 14-17 Downloads: 252   Kids Having Kids - Too/Enough/So/Such/V ery - Love and Relationships Level: intermediate Age: 14-17 Downloads: 245     SO, SUCH, TOO, ENOUGH   1- Giselle's  good she could be a professional. 2- She plays  well (that) she could be a professional. 3- There were so muchsuchso many footballs (that) I didn't know which one to choose. 4- Which expression substitutes "so many" in the previous sentence? so muchsuch a lot ofsuch many 5- Mozart is sosuchsuch a good player!  6- They are sosuchsuch a good students! 7- "It's hot today." Rephrase it in three different ways using: so  such  too  8- Which of the three previous sentences you've made CAN'T be continued with "that"? so... that I feel like having an ice cream.such... that I feel like having an ice cream.too... that I feel like having an ice cream. 9- It's too

FUNCIONES DEL "SIMPLE PAST"

El "simple past" se utiliza para hablar de una acción que concluyó en un tiempo anterior al actual. La duración no es relevante. El tiempo en que se sitúa la acción puede ser el pasado reciente o un pasado lejano.

EJEMPLOS

• John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.
• My father died last year.
• He lived in Fiji in 1976.
• We crossed the Channel yesterday.

Siempre se utiliza el "simple past" para referirse a cuándo ocurrió algo, de modo que va asociado a ciertas expresiones temporales que indican:

• frecuencia: often, sometimes, always
  I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
  I often brought my lunch to school.
• un tiempo determinado: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
  We saw a good film last week.
  Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
  She finished her work atseven o'clock
  I went to the theatre last night
• un tiempo indeterminado: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago People lived in caves a long time ago.
• She played the piano when she was a child.

• FUNCIONES DEL "PAST PERFECT"

  El "past perfect" hace referencia a un tiempo anterior al pasado reciente. Se emplea para señalar que un evento ocurrió antes que otro en el pasado. No importa cuál de los eventos se mencione primero, porque el tiempo verbal deja claro el orden temporal en que acontecieron.
  En estos ejemplos, el Evento A es el que primero ocurrió y el Evento B tuvo lugar a continuación, es el más reciente:
  
  
  

  Evento A	Evento B
  John had gone out	when I arrived in the office.
  Evento A	Evento B
  I had saved my document	before the computer crashed.
  Evento B	Evento A
  When they arrived	we had already started cooking.
  Evento B	Evento A
  He was very tired	because he hadn't slept well. FUNCIONES DEL "PAST PROGRESIVE" The past progressive puts emphasis on the course of an action in the past. Form   Positive Negative Question I / he / she / it I was speaking. I was not speaking. Was I speaking? you / we / they You were speaking. You were not speaking. Were you speaking? Exceptions in Spelling Exceptions in spelling when adding ing Example final e is dropped (but: ee is not changed) come – coming (but: agree – agreeing) after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled sit – sitting l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled (in British English) travel – travelling final ie becomes y lie – lying

SHOULD/ SHOULDN´T  HAVE

El segundo verbo modal es should. Es muy importante dominarlo, ya que es una de las palabras que más oirás y utilizarás en inglés.

Should se utiliza para recomendar hacer algo y para afirmar si nos parece que algo es como debería ser o no.

La teoría

Como todos los verbos modales, should va acompañado del infinitivo del verbo principal sin to.

• You should get some more sleep.
• The world should be.

Para formar la negación se añade not después de should y, al contrario que en el caso de might, casi siempre se contrae en la forma negativa.

Te recordamos que los verbos modales no toman la s en la 3ª persona del singular ni adoptan una forma diferente en tiempos pasados ni se combinan con el auxiliar do en preguntas o negaciones.

La práctica

Pronuncia /shhhuud/ en las siguientes frases.

Deberías hacer algo respecto a tu pelo, cariño.	You should do something about your hair, darling.
En mi opinión, deberías ocuparte de ello ahora mismo.	I think you should see to it right now.
Todo el mundo debería tener un sitio donde vivir.	Everyone should have a place to live.

En estos ejemplos verás /shhhuudnt/, el sonido de la negación contraída.

No deberías preocuparte tanto sobre lo que piensa la gente.	You shouldn’t worry so much about what people think.
No debería ver películas de miedo; me dan pesadillas.	I shouldn’t watch horror films; they give me nightmares.
Encontrar un trabajo decente no debería ser una misión imposible.	Finding a decent job shouldn’t have to be mission impossible.

Fíjate en como empieza la primera pregunta: /shhhúdai/.

¿Debería quedarme o irme?	Should I stay or should I go?
¿No debería (él) ir al médico?	Shouldn’t he see a doctor?
¿Crees que debería sincerarme?	Do you think I should come clean?

Extra

Clave de pronunciación

Cuando digas should, debería sonar a /shhhuud/. El sonido inicial es como si estuvieras mandando callar.

Error común

Aunque should y must significan deber en castellano, tienen sentidos muy distintos. Fíjate: A good student should study hard (Un buen alumno debe(ría) estudiar mucho) y A Vaughan student must study hard (Un alumno Vaughan debe estudiar mucho).

Consejo clave

Ten en cuenta que en estos artículos trabajarás los usos más comunes de inglés, y no explicaciones gramaticales exhaustivas. De esa forma, añadimos que también usamos should en frases tipo: That shouldn’t be a problem, en el sentido de que hay poca probabilidad de que eso sea un problema.

Was and were are both past tenses of the verb to be. The verb be is a tricky one because it is an irregular verb and one that we find ourselves using with great frequency, so it is that much more important that we choose the correct verb for our sentences.

In this post, I want to go over the grammar behind was vs. were, when it’s correct to use which one, and give you a few tips to keep track of them both. After reading this post, you shouldn’t have any trouble correctly choosing between was or were in your future writing.

WAS/WERE GOING TO AND WAS/WERE SUPPOSED TO

As I said above, was and were are in the past tense, but they are used differently.

Was is used in the first person singular (I) and the third person singular (he, she, it).

Were is used in the second person singular and plural (you, your, yours) and first and third person plural (we, they).

The forms that was and were will take in your sentence are summarized in the chart below,

Singular = I was, You were, He was, She was, It was

Plural = We were, You were, They were

• I was driving to the park.
• You were drinking some water.
• He was about to eat dinner.
• She was at the roller rink.
• It was a great time.
• We were in the right spot.
• They were nowhere to be seen.

If I was vs. If I were

While some people get mixed up on what we’ve covered above, most of the confusion with these two words centers on the use of the subjunctive mood and specifically the two phrases if I was vs. if I were. For example, which of the following two choices is correct?

• If I was a better cook, I could entertain more.

-or-

• If I were a better cook, I could entertain more.

You hear people say both each and every day, so it’s hard to know which is correct. The answer, however, has to do with the subjunctive mood.

Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is a verb form that is used for unreal or hypothetical statements. It is made up of the phrases I were, he were, she were, it were, etc. You often use this form when you are being wishful. For example,

• I wish I weren’t so shy.
• I wish it were warmer outside.
• If I were taller, I could dunk a basketball.
• If John were a rich man, he could drive a fancy car.
• He acts as if he were the one in charge.
• John spends money as if he were a millionaire.

All of the above sentences use the verb were because they aren’t true; they do not describe reality.

In the first two sentences, I am talking about things I wish would happen.

In the third and fourth sentences, I am talking about situations that would happen if I were taller and if John were rich, speaking hypothetically.

And the fifth and sixth sentences are examples of unreal statements.

When to Use Were

Another good example of the subjunctive mood can be found in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. In the song, “If I were a rich man,” the character Tevye sings about how different his life would be and all the things he would do if he were rich.

If I were a rich man, I’d build a big tall house…

If I were a rich man, I’d have the time that I lack.

If I were a wealthy man, I wouldn’t have to work hard.

In these lines, Tevye is fantasizing about life as a wealthy man. He isn’t rich now; he’s just imagining it, so we need to use the subjective “If I were,” not “If I was.”

The correct answer for the example above, therefore, is, “If I were a better cook, I could entertain more.”

Tricks to Remember

Two good clues for the subjunctive mood are the words if and wish. If you see either of these words, there is a good chance you will need to use the subjunctive.

When to Use Was

Since were is used for statements that do not describe reality, was is just the opposite. Was is used for statements of fact. For example,

• Last night, I was watching TV until midnight.
• When I was younger, I wanted to be a singer.
• Your brother was my college roommate.

Summary

These words are used differently in sentences, so it’s important to know when to use were vs. was.

Was is used in the first and third person singular past. It is used for statements of fact.

Were is used in the second person singular and plural and first and third person plural. It is used in the subjunctive mood to indicate unreal or hypothetical statements. The words if and wish usually indicate the subjunctive mood.