Stative Verbs MA_Thesis

7/18/2019 Stative Verbs MA_Thesis

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Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of Englishand American Studies

English Language and Literature

Bc. Jana Dráčková

Stative Verbs with the Progressive Master ‟s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: PhDr. Naděžda Kudrnáčová, CSc.

2011





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AcknowledgementI would like to thank PhDr. Naděžda Kudrnáčová, CSc. for her kind help, patience, and valuable remarks

that she provided me as my supervisor.



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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 6

1. THEORETICAL PART ................................................................................................ 7

1.1. Aspect .................................................................................................................... 7

1.1.1. Progressive Aspect .......................................................................................... 8

1.2. Verbs .................................................................................................................... 12

1.2.1. Stative Verbs ................................................................................................. 14

1.3. Theories on Stative Verbs with the Progressive .................................................. 18

1.4. Corpus Linguistics ............................................................................................... 23

1.4.1. Corpus ........................................................................................................... 23

2. PRACTICAL PART ................................................................................................... 25

2.1. Analysis of the Individual Verbs ......................................................................... 26

2.1.1. Love .............................................................................................................. 27

2.1.2. Like ............................................................................................................... 32

2.1.3. Fear ............................................................................................................... 37

2.1.4. Want .............................................................................................................. 41

2.1.5. Wish .............................................................................................................. 47

2.1.6. Know ............................................................................................................. 52

2.1.7. Understand .................................................................................................... 56

2.1.8. Believe .......................................................................................................... 60

2.1.9. Realise ........................................................................................................... 66

2.1.10. Suppose ....................................................................................................... 71

2.2. Comparison of the Verbs ..................................................................................... 77

2.3. Questionnaire ....................................................................................................... 85

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 89



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REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 93

RÉSUMÉ ........................................................................................................................ 95

CZECH RÉSUMÉ / ČESKÉ RESUMÉ ......................................................................... 96

APPENDICES...............................................................................................................CD



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INTRODUCTION

In the thesis, I analyze the use of stative verbs, particularly the verbs of

cognition, emotion, and attitude, with the progressive aspect. Though statives generally

avoid the progressive, they are employed in this form under certain circumstances. The

aim of the thesis is to examine and compare the selected verbs of cognition, emotion,

and attitude, as regards their use with the progressive, and to find out if they are or are

not similar in this respect as a group, and if the theories on stative progressives

correspond to the actual usage of these verbs. The purpose of the thesis is also to reveal

the degree of subjectivity in the use of stative verbs in this form.

I divided the thesis into theoretical and practical part. In the theoretical part, the

grammatical category of aspect and also, more specifically, the progressive aspect and

its uses are characterized. I provide general features and classification of verbs as well. I

also focus on the class of statives, for I analyze this group of verbs in the thesis.

Furthermore, I attempt to give account of the theories on stative verbs with the

progressive. The last chapter of the theoretical part deals with corpus linguistics and

corpora as such, for the analysis is mainly based on the British National Corpus (BNC).

The practical part of the thesis is based on the actual analysis of the selected

verbs. First, I examine the verbs individually and then I compare them with each other.

As has already been stated, the analysis is based on the corpus findings and the theories

on stative verbs with the progressive. I focus on the occurrence of the verbs with the

progressive in various registers as well as the circumstances under which they are

employed in this form. The practical part also contains the analysis of the answers of a

questionnaire that has been created in order to demonstrate the degree of subjectivity in

the use of stative progressives. I conclude the thesis by interpretation of the results of

the analysis.



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1. THEORETICAL PART

1.1. Aspect

A relatively high number of definitions and conceptions of aspect exist in the linguistic

literature. Comrie defines aspects as “different ways of viewing the internal temporal

constituency of a situation” (as cited in Tobin, 1993: 5). Quirk et al. (1985: 188) regard

it as “a grammatical category which reflects the way in which the verb action is

regarded or experienced with respect to time”. Similarly, Greenbaum (1996: 253)

suggests that aspect refers to “the way that the time of the situation is regarded rather

than its location in time in absolute terms”. According to Biber et al. (1999: 460), it

“relates to considerations such as the completion or lack of completion of events or

states described by a verb”. Gordon and Krylova (1974: 10) elaborate on this by stating

that “aspect is the form of the verb which serves to express the manner in which the

action is performed: it shows whether it is a single accomplished action (a point action),

a recurrent action or a continuous process”.

Though the number of conceptions of aspect is fairly high, generally, there have

been two fundamental approaches to aspect - „temporal‟ approach and „non-temporal‟

approach (Tobin 1993: 5). The above mentioned definition of Biber et al., for instance,

comes under the non-temporal theory. This approach is also based on Brinton‟s notion

of aspect as “a speaker‟s viewpoint or perspective on a situation” (as cited in Tobin,

1993: 6). The temporal view is represented, for example, by the foregoing conception of

Comrie. In the analysis of the employment of stative verbs with the progressive, I

consider the speakers‟ or readers‟ views of a situation to a great extent. Nevertheless, I

am not inclined solely to this non-temporal approach to aspect. I believe both of the

views should always be taken into account, for I agree with Tobin (1993: 5) in



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claiming that these two “perspectives of actions, states and events often overlap”.

As to the ways of expressing aspectuality in English, Tobin (1993: 4) proposes

“the use of tenses, adverbial phrases, noun phrases, verb classes and types, verb

constructions, phrasal verbs, verbal aspectualizers, complement structures, etc.”. In the

thesis, I analyze the use of progressive forms of stative verbs. Therefore, I focus

primarily on the use of tenses, verb classes and types, and verb constructions.

Two aspects exist in the English language - the perfect aspect and the

progressive aspect (Biber et al. 1999: 460). “The perfect aspect designates events or

states taking place during a period leading up to the specified time” (Biber et al. 1999:

460). According to Greenbaum (1996: 253-4), it is “primarily used to place the time of

one situation relative to the time of another situation”.

Since the aim of the thesis is to analyze the use of stative verbs with the

progressive, I deal with this particular aspect in more detail in the following subchapter.

1.1.1. Progressive Aspect

As there are many views on aspect as such, there is also a fairly high number of

perspectives on the progressive aspect. Huddleston (1984: 153) argues that the

progressive presents “the situation as being „in progress‟. This implies that the situation

is conceived of as taking place, not simply obtaining - i.e. it is conceived of as having a

more or less dynamic character, as opposed to being wholly static”. According to Givón

(1993: 151), the progressive “converts a temporally compact, bounded, terminated

event, one that has sharp temporal boundaries, into a temporally difuse, unbounded,

ongoing process”. He adds that the use of progressive “does not imply that the event per

se was unbounded or diffuse, but rather that from the perspective of the speaker, the

event is described in the middle of happening, with its boundaries disregarded and its



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temporal span accentuated” (Givón 1993: 153). Furthermore, Charleston (1941: 116;

omissions mine) claims that the progressive is used to “denote that at a certain point of

time chosen by the speaker (…) the action is already begun but is not yet finished.

Whatever part of the action is involved, it may embrace neither its commencement nor

its end”. “The meaning of the progressive can be separated into three components, not

all of which need be present in a given instance” (Quirk et al. 1985: 198). These are:

1. the happening has duration

2. the happening has limited duration

3. the happening is not necessarily complete (Quirk et al. 1985: 198)

As Quirk et al. (1985: 198) point out, “the first two components add up to the concept of

temporariness”. They also propose a fourth component - “the event described has an

interrelationship or identity with another simultaneous event” (Quirk et al. 1985: 198)

As far as the use and functions of the progressive are concerned, Huddleston et

al. (2002: 162) state that it “has as its basic use the expression of progressive

aspectuality”. They further add that “there are also some specialised uses which cannot

be subsumed under this meaning, and this is why we are distinguishing between

progressive aspect, a category of syntactic form, and progressive aspectuality, a

category of meaning” (Huddleston et al. 2002: 162-3). They argue that progressive

aspectuality involves the following features:

1. the situation is presented as in progress, ongoing, at or throughout the time

referred to

2. the situation is viewed imperfectively



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3. the time referred to is a mid-interval within the time of situation

4. the situation is presented as durative

5. the situation is presented as dynamic

6. the situation is presented as having limited duration (Huddleston et al. 2002:

163)

The most significant use of the progressive aspect is that “it denotes that an activity or

process is (or was or will be) in progress at a given point of time and that it is (or was or

will be) of limited duration” (Roey 1982: 33). In a similar way, Long maintains that:

Progressive-aspect forms are normal where predications tell of actions,

events, or states of affairs that are in process at the time of writing or

speaking and are thought of as begun but not ended, with beginnings and/or

ends felt as relatively close to the time of writing or speaking. (Long 1961: 125)

The progressive also expresses increasing or decreasing activity (Palmer 1974;

Spasov 1972). Furthermore, it “denotes repetition of the activity” (Roey 1982: 33). This

function of the progressive is also suggested in, for example, Spasov (1972) and Quirk

et al. (1985). Expressing repetition tends to be associated with conveying “a sort of

disapproval of an action which (in the speaker‟s opinion) happens too often”

(Millington Ward 1966: 9). This emotive component is also mentioned in, for example,

Huddleston (1984) and Roey (1982). According to Greenbaum (1996: 277), “another

secondary use is as a more polite or more tentative alternative to the simple present or

the simple past”. This function of the progressive is also proposed in Quirk et al. (1985).

Furthermore, “in combination with a present tense form the progressive may give



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greater immediacy to the activity in a more or less generic statement, thus inviting one

to imagine it actually taking place” (Spasov 1972: 10).

Roey (1982: 33) stresses that some of the secondary functions of the progressive

apply only to certain tenses. The present progressive “refers to future time in cases

where the future event or activity has been planned or arranged” (Roey 1982: 41). As

for the future progressive, Quirk et al. (1985: 210) argue that it may be used “with the

special implication that the action will take place „as a matter of course‟ in the future”.

In such instances, any idea of will or intention is avoided (Huddleston et al. 2002; Roey

1982).



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1.2. Verbs

“All verbs occurring in the structure of the language, no matter what their

structural justification in the sentence may be, indicate an activity” (Spasov 1972: 28).

Similarly, according to Frawley (1992: 140), “a verb is traditionally defined as the

grammatical category that represents the action in a sentence”. However, he further adds

that “there are many verbs that do not represent actions, at least not in an intuitive sense

of action as some kind of process carried out relatively deliberately, but are still verbs”

(Frawley 1992: 140-1). Therefore, he points out that verbs “encode events: a cover term

for states or conditions of existence, processes or unfoldings, and actions or executed

processes” (Frawley 1992: 141). Spasov states that the specific character of a verb is:

the ability (or inability) of a verb to convey the character or nature of the activity

for which it is a linguistic symbol. This peculiar quality of the verb has been

called by some writers the lexical character of the verb, and by others — the

aspectual character of the verb. (Spasov 1972: 29)

Furthermore, Huddleston (1984: 124) argues that most verbs have the following two

properties - inflection and functional potential. By inflection,Huddleston (1984: 124)

means that “they are tensed: they have one or other of the inflectional properties „past

tense‟ and „present tense‟”. Functional potential is the function of verbs “as the ultimate

head of the clause” (Huddleston 1984: 124).

As far as the classification of verbs is concerned, Biber et al. (1999: 361-4)

propose the following semantic domains - activity verbs (e.g. to run), communication

verbs (e.g. to speak ), mental verbs (e.g. to know), verbs of facilitation or causation (e.g.

to enable), verbs of simple occurrence (e.g. to happen), verbs of existence or





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because one verb may shift, in meaning, from one category to another. (Quirk et

al. 1985: 178)

They further add that “the dynamic/stative distinction is not clear-cut. (…) There are

some verbs whose meanings cannot be adequately described in terms of this

dichotomy” (Quirk et al. 1985: 178; omissions mine). Similarly, Huddleston et al.

(2002: 168) point out that “the distinction between states and occurrences is not sharply

drawn in objective reality: there is scope for differences in the way a situation is

conceptualised and in the properties lexicalised in particular verbs”.

Since I analyze statives with the progressive in the thesis, I focus on this

particular type of verbs in detail in the following subchapter.

1.2.1. Stative Verbs

There is not a uniform terminology for this type of verbs in the linguistic

literature. The term stative verbs occurs fairly frequently, for example in Quirk et al.

(1985), Roey (1982), and Givón (1993). On the other hand, Spasov (1972) and Palmer

(1974), for instance, call this type of verbs non-progressive verbs. Joos (1964) uses the

expression status verbs. Furthermore, I have also fairly often encountered the term

states. The relation between states and stative verbs is that states are a type of situations

that are characterized by stative verbs.

Huddleston et al. (2002: 119) define states by comparing them with occurrences

when they claim that “states exist or obtain, while occurrences happen, take place.

Occurrences involve change, while states do not. States have no internal temporal

structure: they are the same throughout their duration, having no distinguishable

phases”. In a similar way, Frawley (1992: 146) points out that “stative events are



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internally uniform, in marked contrast to actives, which appear to be heterogeneous and

internally structured”. As he further adds, “this difference in uniformity between actives

and statives is a difference in scope. For statives, the scope of the event is the event as a

totality; for actives, the scope of the event is its components” (Frawley 1992: 147).

Furthermore, states “saturate (…) the time interval in which they occur all the way

down through the moments. By this claim, we mean that if states are true at an interval,

then they are also true at every moment comprising the interval” (Frawley 1992: 188;

omissions mine). In other words, all phases of a stative situation are identical (Comrie

1976: 49).

Stative verbs are relatively frequently discussed in terms of their avoidance of

the progressive aspect. As Quirk et al. (1985: 198) argue, “in many cases the

progressive is unacceptable with stative verbs”. According to Palmer (1974: 70), non-

progressive verbs “are commonly not used in the progressive form at all, even where

they seem to indicate duration. These verbs differ from the other verbs of English in that

they usually, even in the present tense, occur with the non-progressive”. Similarly, Roey

maintains that:

The verbs which can be used in the progressive form are often called dynamic

verbs: they denote an event, an activity or a process which is compatible with the

notions “in progress” and “of limited duration”. Other verbs, often called stative,

express a state or a condition, which exists or does not exist but is not

compatible with these notions. (Roey 1982: 34)

Similar definitions can be found in Givón (1993), Spasov (1972), Joos (1964), and

Huddleston et al. (2002).



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Quirk et al. (1985: 198) explain the incompatibility of stative verbs with the

progressive by pointing out that “stative verb meanings are inimical to the idea that

some phenomenon is „in progress‟. States are „like- parted‟ in that every segment of a

state has the same character as any other segment: no progress is made”. According to

Givón (1993: 151), “the progressive converts a compact event into a state. But stative

verbs already signal a state through their inherent lexical meaning. It thus makes no

sense to convert them into what they already are”. Nevertheless, “one must note that it

is not the progressive form of the verb that exhibits the restriction, but rather the

particular sense associated with that form” (Givón 1993: 151).

As to the classification of stative verbs, the authors differ from each other to a

certain extent. Palmer divides stative verbs into two categories:

1. private verbs - refer to states or activities that the speaker alone is aware of;

these are those that refer to mental activities (e.g. to believe, to

think ) and those that refer to sensations (e.g. to see, to hear )

2. verbs of state - refer not to an activity but to a state or condition (e.g. to

contain, to depend ) (Palmer 1974: 71-3)

Joos (1964: 118) proposes similar classification in which the verbs of state are called

relations (e.g. relation of depending), and the group of mental activities is enlarged by

verbs referring to emotional attitudes (e.g. to like). Quirk et al. (1985: 202-5) also

present such categorization, however, they provide a more detailed classification of

private verbs. They divide this group into four categories - intellectual states, states of

emotion or attitude, states of perception, and states of bodily sensation (Quirk et al.

1985: 203). All these classifications are based on two main groups - private verbs and



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verbs of state. However, there are also authors (Gordon and Krylova 1974; Roey 1982;

Spasov 1972) who omit the division into these two classes completely.

For the analysis, I have chosen a specific subclass of private verbs. It is the

group of verbs of cognition, emotion, and attitude that is presented by Huddleston et al.

(2002: 170). Examples of such verbs are: agree, believe, fear , forget , hope, intend ,

know, like, love, etc. (Huddleston et al. 2002: 170). I have selected this group for a

number of reasons. First, it is considered “a large and important class of stative verbs”

(Huddleston et al. 2002: 170). Also, it is argued that “none of these verbs completely

excludes the progressive, however, though they differ with respect to how easily they

take it” (Huddleston et al. 2002: 170). It will be therefore a challenge to reveal to what

extent they actually differ in this respect. Last but not least, since this class consists of

both cognitive states and states rather associated with emotional attitudes, I will be also

able to analyze the differences between these two groups, as far as their employment in

the progressive form is concerned.



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1.3. Theories on Stative Verbs with the Progressive

As has already been mentioned, stative verbs do not normally combine with the

progressive aspect. Nevertheless, a relatively high number of circumstances under

which these verbs are employed in this manner are proposed in the linguistic literature. I

divided these theories into twelve groups. In certain cases, the reasons for using stative

verbs in the progressive form are only stated and not discussed or elaborated on under

the theory on stative progressives. Therefore, in attempt to interpret and explain these

circumstances to some extent, I will sometimes use the theories on the progressive

aspect as such, where the explanations of the usages are sufficient and, of course, fully

correspond to the usages dealt with under the theory of stative progressives.

The first theory seems to be based on the use of stative verbs with the

progressive in order to express politeness and tentativeness, to hedge or soften certain

statements and propositions and their effect. As Quirk et al. (1985: 203) claim, stative

verbs occur with the progressive “when tentativeness is being emphasized”. The

progressive “avoids any danger of apparent brusqueness” (Huddleston et al. 2002: 170).

In a similar way, Leech (1971: 24) maintains that the progressive “is a more tentative,

and hence more polite method of expressing a mental attitude”. The following example

demonstrates this theory: I was hoping you would give me some advice (Quirk et al.

1985: 203).

Another reason for the employment of stative verbs in the progressive form is to

express intensity of emotion, and to put emphasis on the verb and the situation it

describes. According to Gordon and Krylova (1974: 18), the progressive gives

emotional colouring to stative verbs. Such usage is “an indication of intensity of

sensation or feeling” (Spasov 1972: 120). Similarly, Millington Ward (1966: 14) points

out that “sometimes (though rarely), some of these verbs (i.e. stative verbs) are used to



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express enjoyment or lack of enjoyment. In these cases, they have the usual continuous

forms”. An example of this use is: “Oh, please, not yet. I am loving this Turkish music.

Aren’t you?” (Millington Ward 1966: 14).

Stative verbs are also used in the progressive form due to the change of their

meanings. Quirk et al. (1985: 200) argue that if stative verbs are used with the

progressive, “it is a sign that they have been in some sense reinterpreted as containing a

dynamic predication”. They further add that “this change of interpretation can usually

be explained as a transfer, or reclassification of the verb as dynamic” (Quirk et al. 1985:

202). According to Spasov (1972: 119), the use of stative progressives is possible due to

“slight modification of the semantic meaning of the verb”. This theory is also proposed

by Roey (1982), Leech (1971), Gordon and Krylova (1974) and Huddleston et al.

(2002). The following sentence demonstrates such usage: He’s minding the baby while

his wife is at the cinema (Spasov 1972: 119).

The following theory is based on the use of stative progressives in order to

emphasize immediate present or the moment of speaking. As Rot (1988: 49) states,

sometimes stative progressives “are only possible if one particularly wishes to stress the

present focus”. Similarly, Joos (1964: 115) suggests that stative verbs “are only found in

the continuous form when we wish to give special emphasis to their particular

application to this very moment”. In other words, when such usage occurs, the attention

is centered on the condition at the time of speaking (Spasov 1972: 120). An example of

this employment is: The programmes you are hearing are coming to you from the BBC,

London (Spasov 1972: 120).

Another reason for the use of stative verbs with the progressive is to stress

temporariness, the present period of time, and also limited duration. According to

Biber et al. (1999: 471), the progressive can be “used with verbs that describe a static



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situation. In this case, the progressive expresses the meaning of a temporary state that

exist for a period of time”. Stative progressives “imply temporariness rather than

permanence” (Quirk et al. 1985: 198). A similar opinion is held by Palmer (1974: 74),

who claims that stative verbs “are used with progressive forms where there is reference

to limited duration”. This theory is also presented by Huddleston et al. (2002) and

Leech (1971). The following sentence indicates such usage: My knee is hurting (Leech

1971: 22).

Stative verbs are also employed with the progressive to indicate that the activity

expressed by a verb is increasing or decreasing. As Spasov (1972: 121) points out, the

progressive aspect is used to indicate “increasing or decreasing activity of a non-

progressive verb”. In a similar way, Rot (1988: 48) maintains that stative verbs in the

progressive form “indicate a gradual change in state for better or for worse”. Such

employment expresses a change in the degree of the activity indicated by a verb

(Comrie 1976: 37). It is “usually signalled by an accompanying comparative such as

“more”, “better”, “less”, etc.” (Rot 1988: 48). This theory is also dealt with in Leech

(1971), Palmer (1974) and Huddleston et al. (2002). The following example

demonstrates this concept: It’s mattering less and less now (Spasov 1972: 121).

The next theory is based on the use of stative progressives in order to express

near future and something that is planned or arranged. As Joos (1964: 115) argues,

stative verbs can be found in the progressive form to indicate an immediate future and

this occurs only rarely. Quirk et al. (1985: 215) state that “the present progressive can

refer to a future happening anticipated in the present. Its basic meaning is: future arising

from present arrangement, plan, or programme”. An example of such usage is: I’m

seeing him tomorrow (Joos 1964: 115).

Another reason for employing stative verbs in the progressive form is to



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emphasize repetition. According to Spasov (1972: 121), stative verbs are used with the

progressive to indicate “habitually or sporadically repeated activities performed over

longer or shorter periods”. In a similar way, Palmer (1974: 74) claims that stative

progressives commonly express habitual activity over a limited period and are also used

for sporadic repetition. This sentence demonstrates the theory: You’re always doubting

my words (Spasov 1972: 121).

Furthermore, stative progressives tend to be employed in order to emphasize that

a state or activity expressed by a verb lasts for a certain period of time and, thus, has

duration. According to Palmer (1974: 73), “the private verbs are used with the

progressive where there is simply emphasis upon the duration”. However, he restricts

this theory only to the private verbs, for he stresses that “with the verbs of state the

position is a little different. With them there is never emphasis on the duration” (Palmer

1974: 74). An example of this conception is: She’s hoping all the time that he’ll come

back (Palmer 1974: 74).

Proponents of the following theory hold that stative verbs have an explanatory

function when they are employed in the progressive form. According to Huddleston et

al. (2002: 170), when stative verbs are used with the progressive, the authors of the

utterances are concerned with explaining, interpreting, commenting on something they

or other people have just said. It is also pointed out that “the progressive is not required

here but is more usual than the non-progressive; the internal (imperfective) view is

appropriate to the explanatory function of the clause” (Huddleston et al. 2002: 165). An

example of this theory is: You’re forgetting you said you’d help (Huddleston et al. 2002:

170).

The following theory is based on the use of stative verbs in the progressive form

in order to indicate that the state or activity expressed by a verb occurred only recently.



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As Rot (1988: 50) maintains, when stative verbs are employed with the present perfect

progressive, “there is a notion of recent occurrence”. In a similar manner, Spasov (1972:

121) points out that stative progressives indicate “an activity immediately preceding the

present moment”. The following sentence demonstrates this theory: I’m glad you feel

like that, but the fact is your position’s queer, Hubert, I’ve just been hearing . (J.

Galsworthy) (as cited in Spasov, 1972: 121).

Last but not least, stative verbs tend to be used in the progressive form to

indicate a natural course of events without expressing any intention or volition. As

Gordon and Krylova (1974: 48) suggest, “the future continuous is used to express an

action which the speaker expects to take place in the future in the normal, natural course

of events”. Similarly, Quirk et al. (1985: 216) argue that this construction denotes

“„future as a matter of course‟. The use of this combination avoids the interpretation (to

which will , shall , and be going to are liable) of volition, intention, promise, etc.”.

Moreover, Huddleston et al. (2002: 172) point out that in questions, this construction is

used to avoid the interpretation of request. It is also stressed that “the „matter -of-course‟

implication of will (or shall) with the progressive is also found with other modal

auxiliaries” (Quirk et al. 1985: 210). An example of this usage is: Harris said, “We

shall be wanting to start in less than twelve hours’ time.” (Gordon and Krylova 1974:

49).



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1.4. Corpus Linguistics

Corpus linguistics is “the study of language on the basis of text corpora” (Aijmer

and Altenberg 1991: 1). Biber et al. (1998: 1) argue that it “investigates how speakers

and writers exploit the resources of their language”. “It is an empirical approach that

involves studying examples of what people have actually said, rather than hypothesizing

about what they might or should say” (Bowker and Pearson 2002: 9). Biber et al. (1998:

5) point out that the goal of corpus linguistics is “not simply to report quantitative

findings, but to explore the importance of these findings for learning about the patterns

of language use”. As Bowker and Pearson (2002: 11) claim, corpus linguistics has

applications in a wide range of disciplines, such as the discipline of lexicography, the

field of language learning, sociolinguistic studies, historical linguistics, linguistics

proper, terminology, translation and technical writing.

1.4.1. Corpus

Sinclair (1991: 14) defines a corpus as “a sample of the living language”.

According to McEnery et al. (2006: 4), it is “a collection of sampled texts, written or

spoken, in machine-readable form which may be annotated with various forms of

linguistic information”. Bowker and Pearson (2002: 10) argue that “the texts in a corpus

are selected according to explicit criteria in order to be used as a representative sample

of a particular language or subset of that language”. A corpus provides data about the

frequency of words in the entire corpus as well as in various registers. Moreover, it

displays collocations of words. As for the application of corpora, Sinclair (1991: 17)

points out that “one of the principal uses of a corpus is to identify what is central and

typical in the language”. He proposes two kinds of corpora:



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1. sample corpus - a finite collection of texts, often chosen with great care and

studied in detail; once a sample corpus is established, it is

not added to or changed in any way

2. monitor corpus - a corpus which re-uses language text that has been prepared

in machine-readable form for other purposes - for

typesetters of newspapers, magazines, books,

word-processors, and for legal or bureaucratic reasons

(Sinclair 1991: 171-2)



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2. PRACTICAL PART

The practical part of the thesis deals with the analysis of the selected verbs of

cognition, emotion, and attitude in terms of their occurrence in the progressive form.

The verbs are not only examined individually, but also compared with each other. The

analysis is based on the corpus findings and the theories on stative verbs with the

progressive. It demonstrates in which style of language each of the verbs tends to occur

in the progressive form and what the motives are for such usage. It also shows to what

extent the theories on statives with the progressive correspond to the actual employment

of the verbs. Moreover, the analysis indicates if the verbs are similar as a group or if

they differ in their occurrence with the progressive. In addition to that, by means of a

questionnaire, I demonstrate the degree of subjectivity in the use of stative verbs in this

particular form.

Prior to the actual analysis, it is important to state the tools and methods I have

employed.

As has already been mentioned, the BNC was used to generate the occurrences

of the selected verbs in the progressive form. I searched for these instances by entering

the given verb in the present participle into the query field, and entering the lemma of

the verb be into the context field, which was formatted to search in up to five

tokens to the left. Out of thus generated collocates, only those which corresponded to

stative verbs with the progressive were selected. As for the words chosen for the

analysis, I have selected ten verbs from the group of verbs of cognition, emotion, and

attitude in a manner that they are representative examples not only according to

Huddleston et al. (2002: 170), but also in other grammar books (Biber et al. 1999: 363;

Quirk et al. 1985: 203). The selected verbs are love, like, fear , want , wish, know,

understand , believe, realise, and suppose. Furthermore, I have chosen these verbs in a



26

way that half of them express cognitive states (know, understand , believe, realise, and

suppose), while the other half rather represent emotions ( love, like, fear , want , wish).

This was done in order to see if the semantic difference between these two groups of

verbs will be reflected in their use in the progressive form. Although the verbs hope,

think , and wonder can be considered representative examples as well, they were not

selected for the analysis, for they are regarded as “frequently occurring with the

progressive aspect (more than ten times per million words)” (Biber et al. 1999: 472). It

is suggested that they rather fall into the group of progressive mental verbs (Biber et al.

1999: 474). Therefore, due to the fact that they are not treated in the same way as the

rest of the verbs in the group, I do not include them in the analysis.

2.1. Analysis of the Individual Verbs

In this part of the thesis, by means of the BNC, I analyze each of the selected

verbs of cognition, emotion, and attitude, as far as its occurrence with the progressive is

concerned. I focus not only on their general occurrence in the corpus, but also on their

occurrence in different styles of language. Furthermore, I am interested in determining

the circumstances under which they are used with the progressive. This part of the

analysis demonstrates in which register each of the verbs is or is not frequently found in

this particular form. It also indicates the reasons for such usage.

As to the registers, I focus on spoken language, fiction, newspaper, academic

texts, and miscellaneous. I do not regard magazines and non-academic texts to be as

significant as to be analyzed independently. Therefore, I incorporate them into

miscellaneous. As far as the motives for using the given verbs with the progressive are

concerned, I take several aspects into account while analyzing the verbs. I focus on the

context, tenses, register, and also particular words used in the given context. In quite a



27

lot of cases, the context plays a significant role in the analysis of the use of the given

verbs with the progressive. Therefore, I will sometimes provide examples with extended

contexts, so that the reason for such usage can be recognized. In all the tables

representing the reasons for employing the selected verbs with the progressive, I

provide all motives that have been discussed in the chapter dealing with the theories on

stative verbs with the progressive, even though not all of them are detected in the

corpus for each of the verbs. This is done in order to display to what extent the theories

correspond to the actual usage of each of the selected verbs. These motives are located

above the bold line in the tables. Other reasons can be found under the bold line.

All the following examples of the usage of the given verbs in the progressive

form are taken from the BNC.

2.1.1. Love

The verb love occurs in the progressive form thirty-one times in the corpus. The

following table indicates the occurrence of the verb across various registers. The

column TOKENS signifies the raw number of instances in the given registers, whereas

PER MIL represents the frequency per million words.



28

Table 1

Distribution of Love

REGISTERLOVE

TOKENS PER MIL

all registers

(96,263,399 words)31 0.32

spoken

(9,963,663 words)2 0.2

fiction (15,909,312 words)

6 0.38

newspaper (10,466,422 words)

12 1.15

academic

(15,331,668 words)2 0.13

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words)9 0.2

It can be seen from the table that the progressive form of love occurs more

frequently in written language than in the spoken mode. As far as the given registers are

concerned, it is found in all of them. However, it occurs most significantly in the

newspaper style. Furthermore, love was quite often detected in fiction, but less

frequently in spoken language and miscellaneous. It does not occur in the academic

style very much.

The following table demonstrates the reasons for using the verb love with the

progressive and their frequency in the entire corpus as well as in different registers. The

letter T stands for tokens and the letters PM indicate the frequency per million words.



29

Table 2

Distribution of Reasons for Using Love with the Progressive

LOVE

a l l r e g i s t e r s

s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c

m i s c e l l a n e o u s

politeness,

tentativeness

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

emotional

colouring

T 22 1 1 10 2 8

PM 0.22 0.1 0.06 0.96 0.13 0.18

change of

the meaning

T 5 1 4 — — —

PM 0.05 0.1 0.25 — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 4 — 2 — 1 1

PM 0.04 — 0.13 — 0.07 0.02

temporarinessT 2 — — 1 — 1

PM 0.02 — — 0.1 — 0.02

increasing,

decreasing activity

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

immediate futureT — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T 2 — — 2 — —

PM 0.02 — — 0.19 — —

durationT 15 2 3 7 — 3

PM 0.15 0.2 0.19 0.67 — 0.07

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

recent occurrenceT — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT 1 — — — — 1

PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02

immediacy in a

generic statement

T 1 — 1 — — —

PM 0.01 — 0.06 — — —

As the table above demonstrates, the progressive form of love is used in order to

express emotiveness, temporariness, duration, repetition, the moment of speaking, and



30

also to present a situation as a matter of course, and to give immediacy to a generic

statement. Moreover, it is employed due to the change of its meaning. According to the

table, love is employed with the progressive to emphasize the intensity of emotion much

more often than for any other reason. The following lines demonstrate this particular

usage: The 28-year-old has made his first shift from children's telly with the Friday

evening showbiz slot "Entertainment Express" where he works alongside Selina Scott --

and he is loving it (BNC: K5D). The expression loving every minute occurred three

times and loving every bit twice in the corpus and they clearly show emotiveness. The

motive of emotional colouring was detected predominantly in the style of neswpaper.

Another reason that occurred quite substantially is the stress on duration, as in Bob

Mays had to confront the fact that for years he had been loving someone else's daughter

(BNC: CBE). Four out of fifteen such occurrences contain the verb love in the past

perfect or present perfect tense. This motive can be found mainly in the newspaper style

as well. As regards the other motives, love is used five times with the progressive due to

the change of its meaning. It shifts to to make love three times in the BNC, as in She

clung to him, passionately rained kisses down his face, easing the anguish, catering her

hands down his back as he moved restlessly against her. Minutes later he was loving

her completely, his thrusts deep inside her… (BNC: JY4). The shift to to embrace was

detected twice: But Fatima was laughing and loving herself with crossed arms (BNC:

G06). The motive of the meaning change occurred primarily in fiction. As for the

emphasis on immediate present, four instances were detected in the BNC, as in "Jay,

what are you doing?" murmured Lucy, the words broken by hauling breaths inside her.

"I'm loving you," said Jay… (BNC: A0L). The progressive form of love is used in this

way primarily in fiction. Furthermore, the stress on the present period of time was also

detected as a reason for employing love with the progressive: We had difficulty



31

persuading our kids out of the creche and into their different groups, they liked the wee

ones so much! However we are loving being back in the service now (BNC: CC9). The

stress on repetition also marginally occurs in the BNC: "Football is a game of chance

and I am loving every minute of it. I can see signs of improvement throughout the club"

(BNC: K52). Last but not least, the progressive form of love is also once employed in

order to give immediacy to a generic statement and to present a situation as a matter of

course. Providing immediacy to a more or less generic statement is not mentioned in the

theory on stative verbs with the progressive. However, it is stated in the theory on

progressive aspect as such (Spasov 1972: 104). As has already been mentioned, Spasov

(1972: 104) argues that “in combination with a present tense form the progressive may

give greater immediacy to the activity in a more or less generic statement, thus inviting

one to imagine it actually taking place”. There were also instances in the corpus where

the progressive form simply adds immediacy to a rather general statement and thus

makes a depiction more vivid and involves the listeners or readers into the action. The

motive of providing immediacy comprises both of these types of usage.

It is essential to point out that it is not always just one reason that makes people

employ the given verb with the progressive. It seems that it is sometimes rather a

combination of two or even more motives that lead to such usage. The occurrence of

each motive in combination with other reasons is already included in the overall number

of instances of that motive. It is only their combining that will now be specified.

As for love, twenty-one out of thirty-one occurrences contained more than one

motive for using this verb with the progressive. The combination of emotiveness with

the stress on duration was detected nine times in the BNC: Davies, who will be 33 next

month, enthused: "I'm still loving the game" (BNC: A8N). Emphasizing duration also

occurred with the change of meaning, as in …his tiny presence seemed to make all the



32

suffering and pain his birth had caused worthwhile. Except that while she was loving

him, gazing wonderingly at his blind eyes, Dr Neil said suddenly and hoarsely… (BNC:

HGE). This usage was detected three times in the BNC. Another grouping comprises

emotional colouring and the stress on immediate present, as in …the man who seeks

suffering and finds it (and so finds satisfaction too) at the bottom of his vodka jug, who

screams "I'm loving this!" when his wife pulls him across the room by his hair… (BNC:

A18). The rest of the combinations are the following: emotiveness together with the

stress on repetition, the change of meaning with the emphasis on immediate present,

emotiveness with the stress on temporariness and, not less importantly, giving

immediacy to a generic statement together with emotional colouring.

To sum up, the verb love in the progressive form can be found predominantly in

written language, particularly in the neswpaper style. It occurs only rarely in academic

language. The most frequent reason for employing love with the progressive is to

express intensity of a feeling. It is also often used in order to stress duration. What is

more, these two motives were detected many times together in the occurrences of love.

For complete list of occurrences see Appendix 1.1.

2.1.2. Like

The verb like was found in the progressive form sixteen times in the BNC. The

first table shows how frequently this verb is used in the given styles of language.



33

Table 3

Distribution of Like

REGISTERLIKE

TOKENS PER MIL

all registers

(96,263,399 words)16 0.17

spoken

(9,963,663 words)5 0.5


8 0.5


— —

academic

(15,331,668 words) — —

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words)3 0.07

The table reveals that like is used with the progressive mainly in spoken

language. Its occurrence in the written mode is less frequent. As to the individual

registers, it is often employed in spoken language and fiction. Furthermore, it can be

found marginally in miscellaneous. On the other hand, it does not occur in newspaper

and the academic style at all. The non-occurrence of like in academic texts shows that it

is probably regarded as improper and informal in this form.

The second table represents the motives for employing like in the progressive

form and their occurrence across various registers.



34

Table 4

Distribution of Reasons for Using Like with the Progressive

LIKE


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 3 1 1 — — 1

PM 0.03 0.1 0.06 — — 0.02

emotional

colouring

T 5 2 2 — — 1

PM 0.05 0.2 0.13 — — 0.02

change of

the meaning

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 4 1 2 — — 1

PM 0.04 0.1 0.13 — — 0.02

temporarinessT 9 3 4 — — 2

PM 0.09 0.3 0.25 — — 0.04

increasing,

decreasing activity

T 1 1 — — — —

PM 0.01 0.1 — — — —


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

durationT — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT 1 — 1 — — —

PM 0.01 — 0.06 — — —

The table clearly shows that the progressive form of like tends to be employed

in order to emphasize temporariness, increasing activity, the moment of speaking,

intensity of emotion, and also in order to express politeness. Moreover, it is used to



35

present a situation as a matter of course. The rest of the reasons proposed in various

grammar books or any other motives were not detected in the occurrences of this verb

with the progressive. It can be seen from the table above that like is used most

frequently to stress temporariness, as in … I'm looking for the old voice I don't like me

voice, I'm not liking it at all and I think that's what putting me off on taping it and

listening to… (BNC: KCF). This particular usage was detected primarily in spoken

language and fiction. As to the other motives, like is employed five times in order to

express emotiveness, as in We are liking a smashing good time like estate agents and

Neighbours, also Brookside for we are allowed four Channels (BNC: FAS). According

to the frequency per million words, emotional colouring is most often found in spoken

language. Another reason for using like with the progressive is to stress the moment of

speaking. It occurred four times in the corpus and the following lines demonstrate this

particular use: She found herself watching him as he carried their drinks back to the

table, the easy way he moved, his casual dress, his ready smile, and in spite of her

previous reservations she realised she was liking what she saw (BNC: JXY). This

motive was detected mainly in fiction and also quite often in the spoken register. As for

conveying politeness and tentativeness, three instances of the progressive form of like

were found in the BNC: Even the Bishop of Durham, I've just recently bought on of his

books and I rather wish I hadn't, I'm not liking it much erm he's still much too ortodox

really (BNC: KC0). Here the speaker probably does not want to state anything directly

and solves the situation by employing the progressive form of like. As for the

marginally occurring reasons, expressing increasing activity of a verb was detected once

in the BNC: Ooh! Probably share the same actually. Ooh I co, ooh I'm liking the idea

of this more and more! Yes! (BNC: KSV). Not less importantly, portraying a situation

as a matter of course was detected once as well, as the following example shows:



36

"Everybody seems to be going off to the wedding-breakfast. Shouldn't you?" He gave

her the gleaming smile she detested. "Are you dismissing me, Miss Adeane?" "They

won't be liking it if you're late" (BNC: H7P). No volition is indicated here. It is

presented as a natural course of events.

As to the way the motives occurred together in a single occurrence, there are six

instances in which more than one reason plays a role in using the progressive form of

like. There is one group of three motives that were detected together in a single instance.

These are the following: the emphasis on temporariness together with expressing

emotiveness and increasing activity of a verb. The following example of this grouping

has already been dealt with in the preceding lines: Ooh! Probably share the same

actually. Ooh I co, ooh I'm liking the idea of this more and more! Yes! (BNC: KSV). As

for the combinations of two reasons, emotional colouring was found twice together with

the stress on immediate present, as in No nothing no. Nothing up there? No, and a wee

bit there. I'm liking this, I'm liking this (BNC: FXH). Furthermore, emotiveness also

occurred together with the stress on temporariness: We're liking everything today! (they

giggle, theatrically, like the Philadelphia cheese girls) (BNC: CAD). The rest of the

combinations are as follows: expressing politeness together with the emphasis on

temporariness, and presenting a situation as a matter of course together with conveying

politeness.

It can be seen that the verb like is not used very often with the progressive.

Nevertheless, when it occurs in this form, it can be found mainly in spoken language. It

was not detected in academic style and newspaper at all. The most common reason for

employing the progressive form of like is to emphasize temporariness. It is also

frequently used in order to express emotiveness. For complete list of occurrences see

Appendix 1.2.



37

2.1.3. Fear

The verb fear was found with the progressive fourteen times in the corpus. The

following table demonstrates the occurrence of this verb in different styles of language.

Table 5

Distribution of Fear

REGISTERFEAR

TOKENS PER MIL

all registers (96,263,399 words)

14 0.15

spoken (9,963,663 words)

— —

fiction

(15,909,312 words)5 0.31


6 0.57

academic (15,331,668 words)

— —

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words)3 0.07

As the table reveals, the verb fear occurs in the progressive form only in written

language. No instances of this verb were found in the spoken mode. As for the written

style of language, the verb fear can be found most frequently in newspaper.

Furthermore, it is also substantially employed in fiction, but not very significantly in

miscellaneous. Academic language is the only written register in which the verb fear is

not used with the progressive at all. Again, this indicates that the progressive form of

fear is probably considered informal and improper language use.



38

The table below indicates the reasons for using the verb fear with the

progressive and their frequency in the corpus.

Table 6

Distribution of Reasons for Using Fear with the Progressive

FEAR


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 1 — — — — 1

PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02

emotional

colouring

T 10 — 4 5 — 1

PM 0.1 — 0.25 0.48 — 0.02

change of

the meaning

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 1 — 1 — — —

PM 0.01 — 0.06 — — —

temporarinessT 4 — — 3 — 1

PM 0.04 — — 0.29 — 0.02

increasing,

decreasing activity

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

durationT 8 — 4 3 — 1

PM 0.08 — 0.25 0.29 — 0.02

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —



39

It can be seen from the table that people employ the verb fear with the

progressive in order to stress duration, temporariness, intensity of emotion, the moment

of speaking, and also in order to be polite. Neither other theories discussed in the

grammar books nor any other motives were detected in the instances of this verb in the

progressive form. It is evident that fear is used most frequently to emphasize intensity

of emotion, as in Her grandfather Christopher Grenside was last night fearing the

worst (BNC: CBF). The expression fearing the worst was found six times in the

generated occurrences and it expresses great emotiveness. As for the particular registers,

stressing intensity of a feeling was detected mainly in fiction and newspaper, where it

may be used to attract readers‟ attention. Furthermore, fear often occurs with the

progressive to emphasize duration, as in What kind of incident she'd been fearing she

hardly liked to admit, even to herself (BNC: GUE). Six out of eight instances of this

particular usage contain fear in the past perfect tense. As far as the individual registers

are concerned, stressing duration was found primarily in newspaper and fiction. The

table further shows that expressing the present period of time is also a reason for

employing the verb fear in the progressive form, as can be seen in the example …and

maybe I'm just fearing the worst. Frankly, having spent two days looking at how

different it is for Nirvana right now -- or rather, how it was six weeks ago -- I found it

difficult not to (BNC: CHB). The stress on the present period of time occurs

predominantly in neswpaper. This may be caused by the fact that the press focuses quite

often on current events. Fear also appeared once with the progressive in order to

indicate immediate present, as the following lines show: In silent single file they walked

down the narrow corridor, Lissa staring at his back through eyes that were barely

focused. With all her heart she was fearing that she might regret this decision (BNC:

H97). It can be noticed here that the context is sometimes very important for analyzing



40

the motives for a given usage. Furthermore, the progressive form of fear was also found

once in the corpus to convey politeness: … I may fear that you too may be contemplating

defection. I will probably be anxious to get my defection in first. Especially since I may

fear that you are fearing that I … (BNC: ARR). Here the verb fear is used in the present

simple tense when it is referred to the person speaking. However, when another person

is addressed, the verb fear is employed in the progressive form so that the directness is

avoided.

As far as the combinations of the motives are concerned, the verb fear is used in

order to emphasize emotiveness and at the same time duration, as in Gloucestershire

county councillors had been fearing the worst since February when they approved a

budget almost ten million pounds more than the Government target (BNC: K1M). This

combination was detected in five out of fourteen occurrences. Furthermore, emotive

colouring was also found together with emphasis on the present period of time, as can

be seen in the example With local elections looming in the near future, Communist

leaders in Warsaw are already fearing another serious loss… (BNC: A28). This

particular combination occurred four times in the corpus. Last but not least, there is also

one instance of using fear with the progressive in order to express intensity of a feeling

and immediate present. These lines have already been dealt with: In silent single file

they walked down the narrow corridor, Lissa staring at his back through eyes that were

barely focused. With all her heart she was fearing that she might regret this decision

(BNC: H97).

To sum up, the verb fear does not occur very often with the progressive. It was

detected in this form only in written language, predominantly in the newspaper style. It

was not found in the academic style at all. The most frequent motive for using this verb

with the progressive is to stress intensity of emotion. This reason often occurs together



41

with the motive of duration. For complete list of occurrences see Appendix 1.3.

2.1.4. Want

The verb want occurs in the progressive form three hundred and sixty-nine times

in the BNC. The first table represents how frequently the verb is employed with the

progressive in different registers.

Table 7

Distribution of Want

REGISTERWANT

TOKENS PER MIL

all registers

(96,263,399 words)369 3.83

spoken

(9,963,663 words)153 15.36


135 8.49

newspaper

(10,466,422 words)22 2.1


4 0.26

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words)55 1.23

The figures show that want is employed with the progressive much more often in

the spoken mode than in written language. As far as the particular registers are

concerned, want occurs in all of them. It can be found predominantly in the spoken style

and also quite substantially in fiction. On the other hand, it is rarely used in academic

language.



42

The second table reveals the motives for employing the verb want in the

progressive form and their occurrence across the given styles of language.



43

Table 8

Distribution of Reasons for Using Want with the Progressive

WANT


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 84 33 35 2 — 14

PM 0.84 3.3 2.2 0.19 — 0.31

emotional

colouring

T 71 13 36 5 1 16

PM 0.71 1.3 2.26 0.48 0.07 0.36

change of

the meaning

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 34 15 14 1 — 4

PM 0.34 1.5 0.88 0.1 — 0.09

temporarinessT 114 69 18 7 1 19

PM 1.14 6.9 1.13 0.67 0.07 0.43

increasing,

decreasing activity

T 5 — — 2 — 3

PM 0.05 — — 0.19 — 0.07


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T 13 3 6 — — 4

PM 0.13 0.3 0.38 — — 0.09

durationT 107 35 48 8 1 15

PM 1.07 3.5 3.02 0.76 0.07 0.34

interpretive,

explanatory use

T 1 — — — — 1

PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02


PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT 95 27 50 7 — 11

PM 0.95 2.7 3.14 0.67 — 0.25

stylistic, rhetorical

reasons

T 1 — — — — 1

PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02

immediacy in a

generic statement

T 16 9 1 — 2 4

PM 0.16 0.9 0.06 — 0.13 0.09



44

It can be seen from the table that want is employed with the progressive in order

to emphasize temporariness, emotiveness, repetition, duration, immediate present, and

increasing activity of a verb. Moreover, it is used for stylistic reasons, to be polite, to

give immediacy to a generic statement, to present a state as a matter of course, and it

also has the interpretive, explanatory function. The figures in the table indicate that

want is used most frequently to stress temporariness, as for example in No she's been

quite very ill. She's been very ill. Er, but she's recovered. But now she is wanting to be

home (BNC: KB8). This usage can be found primarily in spoken language and also

fairly often in fiction. The employment of the progressive form of want in order to

emphasize duration is also very frequent. The following lines demonstrate this motive:

Martin sat down; he had been wanting to get to know Sarah better for some time and

this seemed like a good opportunity (BNC: H85). A relatively high number of

indications of duration, such as for years, for ages, for hours, were found in these

occurrences. The motive of duration occurs principally in the spoken register and

fiction. The progressive form of want was also often detected to present a situation as a

matter of course, as for example in For many members of the team this may be their one

and only opportunity of playing in a major fixture at Twickenham and they will

certainly be wanting to make the most of it (BNC: AL3). This reason occurred ninety-

five times in the corpus and it was found predominantly in fiction and the spoken mode.

As for conveying politeness and tentativeness, want was detected eighty-four times in

the BNC, as in "I've been wanting to tell you, Nenna, that I very much doubt whether

you're strong enough to undertake all the work you do on Grace" (BNC: H0R). This

motive can be found mainly in fiction and spoken language. Moreover, such

occurrences have quite frequently a form of a question. Another reason that quite

commonly brings about the use of want in the progressive form is to emphasize



45

emotions, as for example in "You don't have to be shy with me, you know. I've been

wanting you to kiss me for absolute ages" (BNC: FS1). This usage was detected much

more in fiction than in any other register. This can be explained by the fact that

emotiveness may play an important role in making a piece of fiction dramatic and

attractive for readers. As the table shows, the progressive form of want is also fairly

often employed to stress immediate present, as for example in Are you cold? Are you

wanting me to warm you up? Want my jumper? (BNC: KPK). This motive was found

primarily in the spoken mode. The rest of the reasons occurred more marginally and

these are the following: giving immediacy to a rather generic statement, stylistic

reasons, the explanatory function, and also the stress on repetition and increasing

activity of a verb. In addition to providing immediacy to a generic statement, stylistic

reasons is another motive that is not stated in grammar books, but occurs in practice. It

covers various rhetorical and stylistic reasons for the employment of a stative verb with

the progressive in order to make a text or speech natural, attractive, striking etc.

There are a lot of combinations of reasons for using the progressive form of

want in a single instance. The stress on duration was found thirty-nine times together

with emotiveness, as for example in From time to time he wondered whether he had

made a mistake in sleeping with her. It was something he had been wanting to do for

over ten years… (BNC: HR8). This employment was detected predominantly in fiction.

Another fairly frequent combination is the emphasis on duration together with

expressing politeness and tentativeness: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you. I know

how difficult it must be. Believe me, I've been wanting to ask you how you felt about us,

trying not to…" (BNC: CEC). The motive of politeness and tentativeness was also

found nineteen times with the emphasis on the present period of time, as for example in

"Good afternoon, m'Lady. Which way are you wanting to ride, today?" asked Gareth



46

Davis (BNC: C98). Moreover, expressing politeness is also often combined with

presenting a situation as a matter of course. The following example demonstrates such

usage: "So will you perhaps be wanting a couple of bags, say, of coal to help with the

fire? The house will be dry enough…" (BNC: CKF). These motives

were found eighteen times together. The rest of the combinations are as follows: the

stress on immediate present and presenting a state as a matter of course, the emphasis

on duration and giving immediacy to a generic statement, the stress on temporariness

together with emotiveness, the emphasis on repetition and emotiveness, expressing

politeness and the moment of speaking, the emphasis on temporariness and increasing

activity of a verb, the explanatory use together with expressing politeness, and also

emotiveness together with the stress on immediate present. Furthermore, presenting a

situation as a matter of course was as well detected with the stress on duration,

repetition, emotiveness, and temporariness. As for the groups of three reasons, the

combinations are the following: the stress on temporariness with increasing activity and

emotiveness, and also the stress on temporariness together with emotiveness and

stylistic reasons. Moreover, presenting a situation as a matter of course is also a part of

several combinations of three motives.

It can be seen that the verb want occurs very often with the progressive form. It

is found predominantly in spoken language and also quite frequently in fiction. It was

detected only rarely in academic language. The most common reason for employing the

progressive form of this verb is to emphasize temporariness. It is also often used in

order to stress duration. There are a lot of combinations of motives for employing want

with the progressive. The most frequent pairs are the following: emotiveness together

with duration, and politeness together with duration. For complete list of occurrences

see Appendix 1.4.



47

2.1.5. Wish

The verb wish was found seventy-nine times with the progressive. The following

table indicates the occurrence of such usage across various registers.

Table 9

Distribution of Wish

REGISTERWISH

TOKENS PER MIL


79 0.82

spoken (9,963,663 words)

13 1.3

fiction

(15,909,312 words)34 2.14


10 0.96


2 0.13

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words)20 0.45

It can be seen in the table above that, according to the frequency per million

words, the verb wish is employed with the progressive more frequently in spoken

language than in the written mode. Nevertheless, as to the occurrence of this verb across

various registers, the situation is slightly different. It was detected more often in fiction

than in any other style of language. Furthermore, wish is also used quite substantially in

the spoken mode and the language of newspaper. On the other hand, it is rarely found in

the academic style.



48

The following table demonstrates the reasons for using the verb wish with the

progressive and their frequency in the BNC.



49

Table 10

Distribution of Reasons for Using Wish with the Progressive

WISH


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 6 3 2 — — 1

PM 0.06 0.3 0.13 — — 0.02

emotional

colouring

T 30 — 24 3 — 3

PM 0.3 — 1.51 0.29 — 0.07

change of

the meaning

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 19 1 17 1 — —

PM 0.19 0.1 1.07 0.1 — —

temporarinessT 33 7 9 7 1 9

PM 0.33 0.7 0.57 0.67 0.07 0.2

increasing,

decreasing activity

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T 3 — — 1 — 2

PM 0.03 — — 0.1 — 0.04

durationT 17 1 8 1 — 7

PM 0.17 0.1 0.5 0.1 — 0.16

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT 12 4 — 2 1 5

PM 0.12 0.4 — 0.19 0.07 0.11


reasons

T 3 — 2 — — 1

PM 0.03 — 0.13 — — 0.02

immediacy in a

generic statement

T 2 1 — — — 1

PM 0.02 0.1 — — — 0.02



50

As the figures reveal, the progressive form of wish is employed in order to

emphasize temporariness, duration, repetition, intensity of a feeling, the moment of

speaking, and in order to express politeness, to present a situation as a matter of course,

and to give immediacy to a more or less generic statement It is also used with the

progressive due to stylistic reasons. According to the table, wish was primarily detected

to stress the present period of time, as in "She was the one who wanted me to take early

retirement. Now she is wishing that I was back at work" (BNC: CMK). This usage can

be found mainly in spoken language, fiction and the style of newspaper. The stress on

emotiveness is another motive that very frequently occurs in the BNC, as in the example

He was sitting with Mick at the top of a hill and he was wishing with a deep desire that

he could remain in time, this present time, forever (BNC: CFY). The expressions such

as to wish with a deep desire, to wish hard , to wish urgently, to wish fervently, to wish

with all a person has were found in the generated occurrences and they clearly express

emotiveness. Most of the instances of this usage appear in fiction, where drama and

strong emotions play an important role in attracting readers‟ attention. The emphasis on

immediate present is another reason that was often detected in the corpus, as in "Oh yes,

I took it. And it does mean I know exactly how shitty you're feeling at this moment, and

all the horrible fates you're wishing down on my head" (BNC: H92). The register in

which this employment occurs is in almost all cases fiction. Furthermore, the

progressive form of wish is also fairly often used to emphasize duration, as for example

in "I'm in no hurry to get married, and anyway, it wouldn't be right while you're still

wishing you could be married to someone else" (BNC: FS1). Thirteen out of seventeen

instances of this particular usage refer in some way to the past rather than to the present.

The tenses that are most often employed in these occurrences are the present perfect, the

past perfect and the past simple tense. This motive of duration was detected primarily in



51

fiction as well. The table also indicates that wish is used in order to present a situation

as a matter of course. This reason was found twelve times in the corpus and the

following lines demonstrate this employment: I think presumably you'll be wishing at a

later stage to look at what we're proposic in erm in individual districts (BNC: HVF).

Most of these instances were detected in spoken language. As to the motive of

politeness and tentativeness, six occurrences were found in the BNC: Just then a forman

emerged behind me. "Miss Kenton is wishing to have a word with you, sir," he said

(BNC: AR3). This particular employment can be found primarily in the spoken register.

The rest of the detected reasons occurred rather marginally and these are as follows: the

stress on repetition, stylistic and rhetorical reasons, and giving immediacy to a rather

generic statement.

As regards the way the motives were combined, there is quite a lot of instances

in which at least two reasons bring about together the employment of the progressive

form of wish. The stress on emotiveness and immediate present were detected twelve

times together, as in …she noticed with sudden uneasiness that one of the wall lights

halfway down the corridor had gone, plunging the passageway into semi-darkness. All

at once she was wishing that Desmond was with her (BNC: JXS). Emotional colouring

also occurred together with the emphasis on duration, as in "Oh, will you? How kind

you are! That is the very thing I had been wishing for -- someone to recommend me"

(BNC: HGV). This particular usage was found nine times in the generated occurrences.

Another combination is the stress on emotions and temporariness, as in the following

example: "Even that very first night, at that party at the Estwicks' place, you were

wishing we lived in the days when a man could keep his mistress hoden away" (BNC:

H9L). This employment was detected six times in the BNC. Furthermore, the stress on

temporariness was also found five times together with expressing politeness, as in …I



52

think also the shadow of Lithuania is very much over this and Mr Bush is obviously not

wishing to er box himself into a corner at this stage while the Lithuania crisis is still

open (BNC: KRT). The rest of the combinations are the following: presenting a

situation as a matter of course together with the stress on temporariness, the stress on

repetition and emotions, the emphasis on temporariness together with giving immediacy

to a generic statement, expressing politeness and the emphasis on immediate present,

the stress on duration together with presenting a state as a matter of course, stylistic

reasons and the stress on immediate present, the emphasis on duration and giving

immediacy to a generic statement, presenting a state as a matter of course together with

the stress on the moment of speaking, and the combination of stylistic reasons and

presenting a situation as a matter of course. There were also two groups of three

motives. The stress on emotions was detected together with the emphasis on

temporariness and presenting a state as a matter of course. Furthermore, emotiveness

also occurred together with stylistic reasons and the stress on temporariness.

To sum up, the verb wish is very often employed with the progressive. It can be

found primarily in fiction and spoken language. It is used in this particular form mainly

in order to stress temporariness. It is also frequently employed to express emotiveness.

There are a lot of combinations of the motives for the use of progressive form of wish.

The most frequent pair is: emotiveness together with the emphasis on the moment of

speaking. For complete list of occurrences see Appendix 1.5.

2.1.6. Know

The verb know occurs with the progressive eleven times in the corpus. The first

table shows the occurrence of this verb in the given styles of language.



53

Table 11

Distribution of Know

As this table demonstrates, the verb know occurs with the progressive more often

in spoken language than in the written mode. As far as the individual styles of language

are concerned, it is found most significantly in the spoken register. Furthermore, this

verb is also quite often employed in fiction, but not very substantially in miscellaneous.

The academic style and the language of newspaper represent the registers in which

know does not occur in the progressive form at all. Again, the absence of this verb in

academic language may be caused by the fact that stative verbs in the progressive form

are not regarded as a formal and maybe even a correct language use.

The second table represents the motives for employing the verb know in the

progressive form and their incidence in the corpus.

REGISTERKNOW

TOKENS PER MIL


11 0.11

spoken

(9,963,663 words)3 0.3

fiction

(15,909,312 words)4 0.25


— —

academic

(15,331,668 words) — —

miscellaneous (44,592,334 words)

4 0.09



54

Table 12

Distribution of Reasons for Using Know with the Progressive

KNOW


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 2 — 2 — — —

PM 0.02 — 0.13 — — —

emotional

colouring

T 1 — — — — 1

PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02

change of

the meaning

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

the moment of

speaking

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM 0.05 0.1 0.13 — — 0.04

increasing,

decreasing activity

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT 3 1 2 — — —

PM 0.03 0.1 0.13 — — —


reasons

T 1 — — — — 1

PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02

immediacy in a

generic statement

T 1 1 — — — —

PM 0.01 0.1 — — — —



55

As the table reveals, the verb know is used with the progressive in order to

express politeness, to emphasize temporariness and intensity of a feeling, to present a

situation as a matter of course, to give immediacy to a generic statement and, not less

importantly, for various stylistic reasons. The figures indicate that know is

predominantly employed to stress the present period of time, as in I will check anything

-- see if boy is knowing too many girls or girl is watching too many Hindi films and not

pursuing her studies… (BNC: H89). This motive can be found mainly in fiction and

spoken language. Furthermore, the progressive form of know is also used considerably

to depict a situation as a matter of course, as in the following example: You will be

knowing of Charles Dickens and Terry Wogan and Scotland. All this can be arranged

for cash no questions (BNC: FAS). Again, this usage was detected primarily in fiction.

As for expressing politeness and tentativeness, know occurred twice for this reason. The

following lines demonstrate this particular usage: "One of them was Harry." "And who

would the other be? Or aren't the police knowing yet?" (BNC: CJF). Both of the

instances are part of a question and they were both found in fiction. Another reason is

emotional colouring that occurred once in the generated instances: "I was trained to see

behind enemy lines," Mr Aggarwal told me, "and I am knowing how to observe

properly." (BNC: H89). Here the progressive form expresses intensity of the given

cognitive state. Among other marginally occurring motives for using the progressive

form of know is giving immediacy to a rather general statement, as the following lines

demonstrate: …because the the fields that were in the databases in the past didn't d er w

were sort of total cost of the Mm. job and y you weren't really knowing whether it

included or excluded the A Cs anyway… (BNC: FUJ). The employment of the

progressive form of know in this particular example seems to function as an

involvement of the listeners in an action. It provides greater immediacy. The table



56

above also indicates that people use the verb know for stylistic and rhetorical reasons:

There's something about me That I'm knowing . There's something about me That isn't

showing. I'm growing! (BNC: G24). Repetition and rhythm seem to play a significant

role here, as far as the usage of the progressive form is concerned.

As regards the combinations of more than just one reason, only a small number

of such instances were detected. The progressive form of know is employed in order to

convey politeness and at the same time to emphasize the present period of time. This

combination was found once in the corpus: "One of them was Harry." "And who would

the other be? Or aren't the police knowing yet?" (BNC: CJF). Furthermore, the motive

of politeness and tentativeness also occurred together with presenting a situation as a

matter of course. This particular usage was detected once in the BNC as well: "Get

word to Liam Devlin. Tell him I'll be staying at the Europa Hotel and I must see him."

"Jesus, Mr Higgins, and how would i be knowing such a desperate fella as that?"

(BNC: HTW). No combinations were found in the rest of the instances of the verb

know.

It can be seen that the verb know is rarely used in the progressive form. It is

found predominantly in spoken language and fiction. It does not occur in academic style

and the language of neswpaper at all. The most frequent reason for employing know

with the progressive is to emphasize temporariness. Furthermore, it is often used in

order to present a state as a matter of course. For complete list of occurrences see

Appendix 1.6.

2.1.7. Understand

The verb understand was found twenty-four times in the progressive form. The

following table demonstrates how frequently such usage occurs in different registers.



57

Table 13

Distribution of Understand

REGISTERUNDERSTAND

TOKENS PER MIL

all registers

(96,263,399 words)24 0.25

spoken

(9,963,663 words)11 1.1


5 0.31


— —

academic

(15,331,668 words)3 0.2

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words)5 0.11

The table clearly shows that the verb understand occurs with the progressive

much more frequently in spoken language than in the written mode. As far as the

individual registers are concerned, this verb can be then naturally found mainly in the

spoken style of language. Furthermore, it also occurs quite frequently in fiction and the

academic mode. It can be seen in the table that no instances of the progressive form of

understand were detected in the style of newspaper.

The table below indicates the reasons for using the verb understand with the

progressive and their frequency across various registers.



58

Table 14

Distribution of Reasons for Using Understand with the Progressive

UNDERSTAND


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 4 1 1 — — 2

PM 0.04 0.1 0.06 — — 0.04

emotional

colouring

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

change of

the meaning

T 1 — 1 — — —

PM 0.01 — 0.06 — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 10 3 3 — 2 2

PM 0.1 0.3 0.19 — 0.13 0.04

temporarinessT 8 6 — — 1 1

PM 0.08 0.6 — — 0.07 0.02

increasing,

decreasing activity

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T 4 2 1 — — 1

PM 0.04 0.2 0.06 — — 0.02


PM — — — — — —

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


reasons

T 2 — 1 — 1 —

PM 0.02 — 0.06 — 0.07 —

According to the table, the verb understand is employed with the progressive in

order to emphasize temporariness, repetition, the moment of speaking, and also to



59

convey politeness. Moreover, it is used for stylistic reasons and due to the change of its

meaning. The most frequent motive for employing understand with the progressive is to

emphasize immediate present, as in "So, these crates contain your prize exhibits for the

business fair? Am I understanding this correctly?" Her voice shook with suppressed

anger (BNC: GUE). Seven out of ten such occurrences are associated with

understanding what one is reading or what another person is saying at the moment. This

motive can be found predominantly in the spoken register. Furthermore, understand is

also very often used in order to stress the present period of time, as in Okay now some

people you mention fractions and they scream and run and, Ah no no hate fractions.

and it's cos they don't understand them but you're understanding them I think very well

now so you're going to like them (BNC: FUH). This reason can be found principally in

spoken language. As for the motive of politeness and tentativeness, four instances were

found in the corpus: "He was dropping one of his tools and let forth a number of

obscenities. His voice was what is called, I am understanding , Cockney or perhaps

Australian" (BNC: A0D). Here the speaker‟s uncertainty brings about the use of the

progressive form. This usage was detected mainly in the spoken register. Furthermore,

the stress on repetition also occurred four times in the BNC and the following example

demonstrates this particular use: ""Men have needs," that's what Francis used to say.

"Needs". "So have I," I used to say. But I don't think we were understanding each

other" (BNC: FPF). This motive occurred primarily in spoken language as well. The

table further indicates that people also marginally use the progressive form of

understand for stylistic and rhetorical reasons, as in People may say that understanding

something, as you are now understanding what I have written, involves interpretation…

(BNC: CK1). Last but not least, understand was found once with the progressive due to

the change of its meaning from to understand to to arrive at understanding : Mr. Mendez



60

started to nod, very slowly, as if he was just understanding something (BNC: J2G).

As far as the combinations of the motives for using the progressive form of

understand are concerned, only five out of twenty-four occurrences contain more than

one reason for such usage. The stress on immediate present and the stylistic reasons

were detected twice together. The following lines show this particular employment: "So,

these crates contain your prize exhibits for the business fair? Am I understanding this

correctly?" Her voice shook with suppressed anger. "At last, I think we can safely say

that you are understanding the situation correctly" (BNC: GUE). Again, it can be seen

in this example that the context may play a significant role in detecting the motives for

using stative verbs with the progressive. The emphasis on immediate present was also

found twice together with expressing politeness: "I'm not understanding you, so can

you say it differently?" (BNC: CEF). Lastly, a combination of the change of meaning

and the stress on immediate present was detected once in the BNC: Mr. Mendez started

to nod, very slowly, as if he was just understanding something (BNC: J2G).

To sum up, the progressive form of understand can be found predominantly in

spoken language and also quite frequently in fiction. On the other hand, it does not

occur in the newspaper style at all. The most common reason for employing this verb

with the progressive is to emphasize the moment of speaking. Furthermore, it is often

used in this form in order to express temporariness. For complete list of occurrences see

Appendix 1.7.

2.1.8. Believe

The verb believe occurs with the progressive twenty-three times in the BNC. The

first table represents the occurrence of this verb in various styles of language.



61

Table 15

Distribution of Believe

As the table reveals, the verb believe can be found with the progressive in the

spoken mode almost as frequently as in the written style of language. As to the

particular registers, it is used in all of them. It is employed predominantly in fiction and

also quite substantially in spoken language, the style of neswpaper and miscellaneous.

As for this last diversified register, the verb believe can be found four times in religious

texts. It is rarely employed in the academic mode.

The second table shows the motives for employing the verb believe in the

progressive form and their occurrence in the BNC.

REGISTERBELIEVE

TOKENS PER MIL


23 0.24

spoken

(9,963,663 words)2 0.2

fiction

(15,909,312 words)7 0.44


2 0.19

academic

(15,331,668 words)1 0.07

miscellaneous (44,592,334 words)

11 0.25



62

Table 16

Distribution of Reasons for Using Believe with the Progressive

BELIEVE


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 8 1 2 1 — 4

PM 0.08 0.1 0.13 0.1 — 0.09

emotional

colouring

T 9 — 4 1 — 4

PM 0.09 — 0.25 0.1 — 0.09

change of

the meaning

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 2 — 1 — — 1

PM 0.02 — 0.06 — — 0.02


PM 0.04 0.1 0.06 — — 0.04

increasing,

decreasing activity

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T 1 — 1 — — —

PM 0.01 — 0.06 — — —

durationT 6 — 2 1 — 3

PM 0.06 — 0.13 0.1 — 0.07

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —


PM 0.02 — — — — 0.04


reasons

T 5 — 1 — 1 3

PM 0.05 — 0.06 — 0.07 0.07

immediacy in a

generic statement

T 2 — — — 1 1

PM 0.02 — — — 0.07 0.02



63

As the table above demonstrates, the verb believe tends to be employed in the

progressive form for a relatively high number of reasons. It is used in this manner to

convey politeness and tentativeness, to emphasize intensity of a feeling, duration,

temporariness, repetition, and the moment of speaking. Moreover, it is employed to

present a situation as a matter of course, to give immediacy to a generic statement and,

not less importantly, for stylistic and rhetorical reasons. It can be seen from the table

that believe was most substantially found with the progressive to stress intensity of

emotion, as in "When I lost that opening game in the fourth set I said to myself "this is

your match". I was still believing in myself" (BNC: K2D). The expressions such as not

to believe someone's good luck and not to believe someone's eyes were found in the

generated instances and they present the situation in an emotive way. As far as the

individual registers are concerned, this particular usage was detected predominantly in

fiction, where the stress on emotions and dramatic character of a story to draw attention

play a significant role. Another motive that occurred quite frequently as well is

expressing politeness and tentativeness. The following lines demonstrate such

employment: "No, the murder of Lord Woodleigh was conceived here on Capri, I am

believing . Perhaps because something called a stoup in a church was not so interesting

enough as he had thought" (BNC: A0D). Here the speaker is probably not absolutely

sure of the statement and does not want to risk potential scorn of others by a

straightforward claim. The motive of politeness and tentativeness occurred most

frequently in fiction. The motive of emphasizing duration was detected in the corpus

quite often as well: She gazed at the golden-haired figure standing so tall and so proud

in the centre of the stage. The kind of betrayal she'd been believing him guilty of was

mean, petty-minded, and he was none of those things (BNC: HA9). Three out of six

occurrences of this motive contained the adverb still that emphasizes the element of



64

duration. This employment occurred mainly in fiction. As for temporariness, four

instances can be found in the BNC. These lines illustrate this particular motive: This

government is not believing in integrated strategy, it never has done and it never will do

and with the current the government expansit plans it is becoming less and less likely

(BNC: JS8). Again, the majority of these occurrences were found in fiction. Another

motive that was detected five times in the corpus is stylistic and rhetorical reasons:

… for in believing this we are believing that when all the truths are in, our justification

will remain… (BNC: F9K). In all five occurrences there is a certain word close to the

verb believe in the text that has a progressive form. This causes the speaker to use

believe with the progressive as well, in order to sound natural and smooth and to keep

the flow of the speech. Furthermore, it can also be seen from the table that the motive of

presenting a situation as a matter of course was detected in the corpus as well. The

following example demonstrates this usage: …and within two minutes the prize-winner

will be believing that she knew all about him and had indeed been specially looking

forward to meeting him (BNC: G2E). Both of the instances of this reason occurred in

miscellaneous. The progressive form of believe is also employed in order to provide

immediacy to a rather general proposition, as in If doubt is eventually justified, we were

believing what clearly was not worth believing (BNC: C8V). Other marginally

occurring reason for the employment of believe with the progressive is emphasizing the

moment of speaking: They were now sitting up, most of them. The sun had pierced

through the mist, and they were not believing their good luck at being alive, and being

cared for by the beautiful colleens (BNC: B2E). Last but not least, the stress on

repetition was also once detected in the corpus: To be honest, Mildred's stories often got

rather out of hand, when she would find, to her dismay, that the whole class was

listening and believing every word (BNC: CCA).



65

As to the way the motives are combined in certain instances, there is a lot of

cases where more than just one reason causes the use of the progressive form of believe.

There are even instances where three motives participate in causing the speaker to use

believe with this form. For example, the emphasis on duration, rhetorical reasons, and

giving immediacy to a general statement seem to occur together in If doubt is eventually

justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing (BNC: C8V). Another

group of three reasons comprises: conveying tentativeness, depicting a state as a matter

of course, and stylistic reasons, as in: It's time for a change. It's time for Labour. I'm

almost believing it could happen. They may be believing it, too, on the Meadowell

estate, North Shields (BNC: CAF). Furthermore, stylistic reasons were also found in

combination with emphasizing duration and intensity of a feeling, as the following

lines demonstrate: When they get drunk, have a binge, take on yet another new project

or make even more plans for someone else's recovery, they are not relapsing; they are

still suffering, still believing that they can compromise with the concept… (BNC: G3D).

Last but not least, a combination of stylistic reasons, the emphasis on the moment of

speaking, and stressing intensity of emotion was detected in the corpus: Alec sighed,

"but I hate experimenting in a lonely spot like this." "We're not experimenting, Alec," I

cried, my voice filled with passion," we're believing -- Miss Sowerby and me" (BNC:

CHG). As for the occurrences of two motives in one instance, the combinations are the

following: the emphasis on the moment of speaking together with stressing emotion,

emphasizing temporariness and the stress on emotiveness, emphasizing duration and

emotiveness, expressing repetition together with intensity of emotion, and lastly, the

emphasis on temporariness together with conveying politeness.

It can be seen that the progressive form of believe occurs in spoken language as

frequently as in the written mode. It can be found most often in fiction. It was also



66

detected four times in religious texts. The most frequent motive for employing this verb

with the progressive is to emphasize the intensity of emotion. For complete list of

occurrences see Appendix 1.8.

2.1.9. Realise

The verb realise was found in the progressive form seventy-one times in the

corpus. The instances of the variant realize were also taken into consideration. The

following table indicates how frequently this verb occurs in the given registers.

Table 17

Distribution of Realise

REGISTERREALISE

TOKENS PER MIL

all registers (96,263,399 words) 71 0.74

spoken

(9,963,663 words)12 1.2


11 0.69

newspaper

(10,466,422 words)6 0.57

academic

(15,331,668 words) 8 0.52

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words)34 0.76

It can be seen in the table above that, according to the frequency per million

words, the progressive form of realise is used more frequently in spoken language than

in the written style. It was detected in all the individual registers and, as has been



67

already stated, it is the spoken mode in which realise occurs most often with the

progressive. As for the rest of the given styles of language, it was found relatively

equally in all of them.

The following table demonstrates the reasons for using the verb realise with the

progressive and their frequency in the given registers.



68

Table 18

Distribution of Reasons for Using Realise with the Progressive

REALISE


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 1 1 — — — —

PM 0.01 0.1 — — — —

emotional

colouring

T 2 — — — 1 1

PM 0.02 — — — 0.07 0.02

change of

the meaning

T 43 6 9 5 4 19

PM 0.43 0.6 0.57 0.48 0.26 0.43

the moment of

speaking

T 5 1 4 — — —

PM 0.05 0.1 0.25 — — —

temporarinessT 45 7 — 5 6 27

PM 0.45 0.7 — 0.48 0.39 0.61

increasing,

decreasing activity

T 8 1 — 1 1 5

PM 0.08 0.1 — 0.1 0.07 0.11


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T 1 1 — — — —

PM 0.01 0.1 — — — —

durationT 18 2 7 1 2 6

PM 0.18 0.2 0.44 0.1 0.13 0.13

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —


PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02

immediacy in a

generic statement

T 1 — — — — 1

PM 0.01 — — — — 0.02

According to the table, the verb realise is employed with the progressive for

quite a lot of reasons. It is used in order to emphasize temporariness, repetition,



69

duration, the moment of speaking, increasing activity of a verb, and intensity of a

feeling. Furthermore, it is employed in order to be polite, to present a state as a matter

of course, to provide immediacy to a more or less generic statement, and due to the

change of its meaning. The figures clearly indicate that the progressive form of realise

is predominantly used in order to stress temporariness, as in Although some doctors

carry on the tradition of the medical profession in refusing to accept these "outsiders",

more are now realising that osteopaths and chiropractors can relieve pain (BNC:

B3G). This motive was detected primarily in spoken language and miscellaneous.

Another reason that was found almost as frequently as temporariness is the change of

the meaning of realise. In thirty-four out of forty-three occurrences, it changes its

meaning to to arrive at realising , as in His cousin, she was quickly realising , though,

was a man who had an aversion to answering any but selected questions (BNC: JY1).

Furthermore, the meaning of realise also shifts seven times to to make something real ,

to bring something into existence, as can be seen in A few lucky people have been

realising a lifetime's dream -- mounting the footplate of the world's most famous engine

(BNC: K21). In the rest of the instances, realise changes into to earn. The motive of the

meaning change was detected primarily in spoken language and fiction. As to the stress

on duration, a relatively high number of occurrences were found as well: The public and

especially hospital consultants are rapidly realising and acknowledging that Trust

hospital status is a genuine attempt to address local health needs which is providing

increasingly successful health care (BNC: JJD). The emphasis on duration was detected

most often in fiction. The adverbs instantly, quickly, swiftly, fast , rapidly, and slowly

were found to modify the verb realise in such instances. They express duration and also

the shift from not realising to realising. That is why the motive of the meaning change is

as well found in the instances in which the adverbs occur. It will be also seen later in the



70

discussion of the combinations of motives. Furthermore, the stress on increasing activity

of a verb also occurred fairly significantly in the corpus: It is sometimes implied that

sales promotion is a second rate or peripheral marketing activity, but companies are

increasingly realising the importance of a well-planned and coordinated programme of

sales promotion (BNC: K94). The rest of the detected motives occur rather marginally

in the BNC and these are as follows: the stress on immediate present, repetition,

emotiveness, politeness, presenting a state as a matter of course and giving immediacy

to a generic statement.

There are quite a lot of combinations of the reasons for employing the

progressive form of realise. The stress on temporariness and the change of meaning

were found sixteen times together, as in While manufacturers were perceived as the

traditional user sof sales promotion, now retailers and financial institutions are

realising that these techniques can help build business (BNC: K5H). The change of the

meaning of realise also often occurred with the emphasis on duration, as in Blue Rondo

was fast realising that British youth could not be moulded from lentil burger gorged

bodies in Covent Garden offices (BNC: ART). This usage was found fourteen times in

the generated instances. There is also a grouping of three reasons that significantly

occurs in the corpus and it is a combination of the meaning change together with the

stress on temporariness, and increasing intensity of a feeling, as in Historians are

increasingly realizing that if the experience of older people is not soust we are in

d anger of losing a unique individual insight into the times and events they report…

(BNC: CE1). These motives were detected eight times together. The rest of the

combinations are the following: the emphasis on immediate present and the meaning

change, emotiveness together with the meaning change and the stress on duration,

emotiveness with the meaning change and the emphasis on immediate present, and last



71

but not least, the meaning change together with giving immediacy to a generic

statement and presenting a state as a matter of course.

To sum up, the verb realise is employed very frequently with the progressive. It

occurs predominantly in spoken language. The most frequent reason for the use of

realise in this form is to emphasize temporariness. Moreover, it is also very often

employed due to change of its meaning, predominantly to to arrive at realising . These

two motives were frequently found together in a single instance. For complete list of

occurrences see Appendix 1.9.

2.1.10. Suppose

The verb suppose occurs with the progressive eleven times in the BNC. The first

table shows the occurrence of such usage across different styles of language.

Table 19

Distribution of Suppose

SUPPOSE

TOKENS PER MIL

all registers

(96,263,399 words)11 0.11

spoken

(9,963,663 words) 1 0.1

fiction

(15,909,312 words)7 0.44


— —

academic

(15,331,668 words)3 0.2

miscellaneous

(44,592,334 words) — —



72

The table clearly indicates that, according to the frequency per million words,

the verb suppose is employed with the progressive in spoken language nearly as

frequently as in written language. As for the individual registers, it is found

predominantly in fiction and less often in the academic and spoken language mode.

Moreover, it does not occur in newspaper and miscellaneous at all.

The second table represents the motives for employing the verb suppose in the

progressive form and their incidence in the corpus.



73

Table 20

Distribution of Reasons for Using Suppose with the Progressive

SUPPOSE


s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


politeness,

tentativeness

T 6 1 2 — 3 —

PM 0.06 0.1 0.13 — 0.2 —

emotional

colouring

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

change of

the meaning

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

the moment of

speaking

T 3 — 3 — — —

PM 0.03 — 0.19 — — —

temporarinessT 2 — 2 — — —

PM 0.02 — 0.13 — — —

increasing,

decreasing activity

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —

durationT 2 — 2 — — —

PM 0.02 — 0.13 — — —

interpretive,

explanatory use

T — — — — — —

PM — — — — — —


PM — — — — — —

a matter of courseT 2 1 1 — — —

PM 0.02 0.1 0.06 — — —


reasons

T 1 — 1 — — —

PM 0.01 — 0.06 — — —

The table above reveals that the verb suppose is employed in the progressive

form in order to stress temporariness, duration, the moment of speaking, and also to



74

express politeness, to present a situation as a matter of course, and for various stylistic

and rhetorical reasons. It is obvious from the table that suppose is most frequently

employed with the progressive to express politeness and tentativeness, as for example in

There was no thing in the world for an explanatory proposition to state. What we are

supposing is that everything could have been exactly as it was except for the non-

occurrence of the smell of the candles (BNC: EVX). It can be seen in these lines that

suppose is used in this way to avoid commitment and to soften the directness of the

proposition. This motive was found predominantly in the academic style of language.

Furthermore, the progressive form of suppose occurred several times in order to

emphasize the moment of speaking, as in "I tell you the things I think will interest you."

"If you go out with another woman that interests me." "I'm not going out with another

woman. Not like that." "Not like what?" "Not like you're supposing ." (BNC: HTX).

Again, a more extended context is required to detect the motive. All the instances of this

particular usage were found in fiction. Another reason for using suppose in the

progressive form is stressing the present period of time, as can be seen in "Are you

supposed to find out who killed Hereward or where Amy is?" "I think the Church are

supposing it would be one and the same." (BNC: HA2). Both occurrences of this

employment can be found in fiction. As for the motive of emphasizing duration, two

instances were detected in the corpus. The following lines demonstrate this use: I think I

was also thinking about the tape-recorder. I think I was supposing it would be on your

list and wondering why (BNC: J17). Again, both of the instances occur in fiction.

Furthermore, suppose is also employed with the progressive to present a situation as a

matter of course, as in I think the issue as you rightly as Miss rightly put it, is the

normal vacancy rate and is there any reason to suppose as the County Council must be

supposing , that this shrinks to a degree (BNC: HVF). No volition is implied here. Last





76

supposing ?" (BNC: HTX).

It can be seen that the verb suppose is rarely employed with the progressive. It

occurs in spoken language almost as frequently as in the written mode. It was detected

primarily in fiction. On the other hand, it was not found in newspaper and

miscellaneous at all. The most common reason for using suppose in the progressive

form is to express politeness and tentativeness. Furthermore, it is often employed in

order to emphasize the moment of speaking. For complete list of occurrences see

Appendix 1.10.



77

2.2. Comparison of the Verbs

This part of the thesis deals with the comparison of the given verbs of cognition,

emotion, and attitude, as far as their usage in the progressive form is concerned. I

contrast the verbs as to the frequency of their employment with the progressive in the

entire corpus as well as across various styles of language. Furthermore, I compare the

given verbs in terms of the reasons for such usage. Moreover, as has already been

pointed out, apart from comparing the verbs with each other, I also analyze the

differences between the group of verbs referring more to cognitive states (know,

understand , believe, realise, and suppose) and the group of verbs rather expressing

emotions (love, like, fear , want , wish). This part of the thesis reveals if the verbs are

similar as a group, as regards their usage with the progressive. Furthermore, it shows to

what extent the theories on statives with the progressive correspond to the actual usage

of these verbs.

The following table demonstrates the occurrence of each of the verbs with the

progressive in various registers as well as in the entire corpus. The letter L signifies the

occurrence of the lemma of each of the verbs. This piece of information is mentioned in

order to determine if there is any link between the general frequency of each verb and

the frequency of its usage in the progressive form.



78

Table 21

Distribution of Verbs

VERBS

a l l r e g i s t e r

s

s p o k e n

f i c t i o n

n e w s p a p e r

a c a d e m i c


LOVE

T 31 2 6 12 2 9

PM 0.32 0.2 0.38 1.15 0.13 0.2

L 14,219 1,831 6,103 1,406 336 4,543

LIKE

T 16 5 8 — — 3

PM 0.17 0.5 0.5 — — 0.07L 40,564 12,082 12,779 2,744 1,236 11,712

FEAR

T 14 — 5 6 — 3

PM 0.15 — 0.31 0.57 — 0.07

L 4,746 125 1,045 1,197 485 1,894

WANT

T 369 153 135 22 4 55

PM 3.83 15.36 8.49 2.1 0.26 1.23

L 87,795 23,975 27,147 8,890 3,513 24,261

WISHT 79 13 34 10 2 20

PM 0.82 1.3 2.14 0.96 0.13 0.45

L 12,910 1,293 2,879 769 1,760 6,209

KNOW

T 11 3 4 — — 4

PM 0.11 0.3 0.25 — — 0.09

L 178,508 61,743 55,168 9,177 10,246 42,165

UNDERSTAND

T 24 11 5 — 3 5

PM 0.25 1.1 0.31 — 0.2 0.11

L 22,974 2,442 5,937 1,462 4,231 8,902

BELIEVE

T 23 2 7 2 1 11

PM 0.24 0.2 0.44 0.19 0.07 0.25

L 33,674 2,994 7,136 5,510 3,796 14,234

REALISE

T 71 12 11 6 8 34

PM 0.74 1.2 0.69 0.57 0.52 0.76

L 14,962 1,355 5,379 1,190 1,375 5,663

SUPPOSE

T 11 1 7 — 3 —

PM 0.11 0.1 0.44 — 0.2 — L 11,493 2,915 4,630 315 1,229 2,404



79

The table clearly shows that the verbs differ markedly from each other, as far as

their occurrence in the progressive form is concerned. It is obvious that not all of them

easily take the progressive. However, none of them avoid it completely. The verb want

was found very frequently in this form. The verbs wish, realise, and love are also

employed quite often with the progressive. On the other hand, the occurrence of the

verbs know and suppose is rather rare in this respect. Many of the analyzed verbs were

detected in such form more often in spoken language than in the written registers.

However, the verbs love and fear occurred predominantly or exclusively in the written

mode. As for the individual registers, the majority of verbs are used with the

progressive predominantly in fiction or spoken language. Nevertheless, love and fear

occur primarily in the newspaper style. Most of the verbs can be found only rarely or

never in academic language. Solely understand and suppose are employed more

significantly in this register. The fact that the majority of the verbs do not occur in

academic texts at all indicates that the employment of stative verbs with the progressive

is probably considered informal and improper. As to the style of newspaper, the verbs

love, fear , want , and wish were detected quite frequently in this register. However, the

rest of the verbs occur rarely or never in this style of language.

It is evident that the verbs associated more with emotional states tend to be used

more often with the progressive than the verbs referring more to cognitive states. As to

the occurrence in the particular registers, these two groups do not differ in any

significant way.

The number of instances of the lemmas of the analyzed verbs clearly

demonstrate that there is no link between the overall occurrence of each of the verbs in

the corpus and their occurrence with the progressive. For example, the frequency of the

lemmas of love and realise are nearly the same (14,219 and 14,963 respectively).



80

However, the progressive form of love was found thirty-one times in the BNC, while

realise was detected seventy-one times. Moreover, the verb know generally occurs most

frequently in the corpus of all the analyzed verbs, while it is employed least often with

the progressive. The figures in the table also reveal that there is no link between the

overall occurrence of each of the verbs in the individual registers and their occurrence in

these registers with the progressive. For example, the occurrence of the lemma of

understand in the spoken mode and in miscellaneous is 2,442 and 8,902 respectively.

However, the progressive form of this verb was found eleven times in spoken language

and only five times in miscellaneous.

The table below indicates the motives for using each of the verbs in the

progressive form. The numbers next to the verbs signify their overall occurrence with

the progressive. As has already been stated, the motives located above the bold line are

all motives that have been dealt with in the chapter on the theories on stative verbs with

the progressive, even though not all of them were found in the corpus for each of the

analyzed verbs. Other reasons for such usage are located under the bold line. Thus, the

table provides clear comparison of the theory on stative verbs with the progressive and

its actual application in practice, as to the verbs of cognition, emotion, and attitude.



81

Table 22

Reasons for Using Verbs with the Progressive

REASON

L O V E ( 3 1 )

L I K E ( 1 6 )

F E A R ( 1 4 )

W A N T ( 3 6 9 )

W I S H ( 7 9 )

K N O W ( 1

1 )

U N D E R S T A N D ( 2

4 )

B E L I E V E ( 2 3 )

R E A L I S E ( 7 1 )

S U P P O S E ( 1 1 )

politeness,

tentativeness — 3 1 84 6 2 4 8 1 6

emotionalcolouring

22 5 10 71 30 1 — 9 2 —

change of

the meaning5 — — — — — 1 — 43 —

the moment of

speaking4 4 1 34 19 — 10 2 5 3

temporariness 2 9 4 114 33 5 8 4 45 2

increasing,decreasing activity — 1 — 5 — — — — 8 —

immediate future — — — — — — — — — —

habitual, sporadic

repetition2 — — 13 3 — 4 1 1 —

duration 15 — 8 107 17 — — 6 18 2

interpretive,

explanatory use — — — 1 — — — — — —

recent occurrence — — — — — — — — — —

a matter of course 1 1 — 95 12 3 — 2 1 2


reasons — — — 1 3 1 2 5 — 1

immediacy in a

generic statement 1 — — 16 2 1 — 2 1 —



82

The table reveals that the circumstances under which the progressive form

occurs and also their frequency differ with each of the verbs. It can be also seen that the

theories on stative progressives correspond only to a certain extent to the actual usage of

the selected verbs. Some of the reasons were not detected at all, although they are

mentioned in various grammar books. These are the motive of expressing immediate

future and recent occurrence. However, it is important to state that the non-occurrence

of the motive of immediate future does not entirely conflict with the theory, for Joos

(1964: 115) claims that this motive is rare. Furthermore, it can be seen that some of the

reasons were detected only marginally and these are as follows: the interpretive use,

expressing increasing or decreasing activity of a verb, and the change of the meaning of

a verb. Solely the verb realise occurs very often with the progressive due to the change

of its meaning. Increasing activity was also found most frequently in the instances of

this particular verb. The rest of the motives presented in the grammar books were found

quite frequently with the analyzed verbs. Generally, the emphasis on temporariness,

emotiveness, duration, the moment of speaking, and expressing politeness are the most

frequent reasons for the use of the given verbs in the progressive form. Emotiveness is

the most frequent motive for using the progressive form of the verbs love, fear , and

believe. Furthermore, it is the verb like, want , wish, know, and realise that occur with

the progressive predominantly to stress temporariness. The emphasis on the moment of

speaking is the most frequent reason for using the progressive form of understand ,

while it is the verb suppose that is found with the progressive primarily to express

politeness or tentativeness. Even though the motive of presenting a situation as a matter

of course was not generally detected as frequently as several other reasons, it occurs

fairly significantly in the instances of the verb want . In addition to the consulted theory

on the use of stative verbs with the progressive, two other motives were detected in the



83

corpus and these are the following: stylistic reasons and giving immediacy to a more or

less generic statement. Stylistic and rhetorical reasons were most frequently a motive

for using the progressive form of believe, whereas providing immediacy to a generic

statement often occurred in the instances of the progressive form of want .

The figures clearly indicate that the verbs associated more with emotions are

used to stress emotiveness more frequently than the verbs rather expressing cognitive

states. As far as the other motives are concerned, these two groups do not differ in any

significant way.

As to the combinations of the motives, the verbs differ in both the types and the

number of them. The more frequently a verb occurs with the progressive, the more

combinations it has. Though the combinations of the motives vary with each of the

verbs, there are also several of them that can be found in instances of most of the verbs.

For example, the stress on duration and emotiveness were detected very frequently

together in the occurrences of wish, love, believe, want , and fear . Furthermore, the

combination of the emphasis on temporariness and emotiveness was found quite often

as well, particularly in the instances of fear , want , believe, love, and wish. The

progressive forms of like, wish, love, and want were fairly often employed in order to

stress immediate present and at the same time emotions. As to the combination of

expressing politeness and the stress on temporariness, the verbs suppose, wish, and want

are frequently employed with the progressive under these two circumstances. Though

expressing politeness and presenting a situation as a matter of course do not generally

occur together as frequently as several other motives, the verb want is used fairly often

with the progressive due to these two reasons in a single instance. It is also the only

verb that is significantly used in the progressive form in order to express politeness and

at the same time duration. As to the combinations of three motives, the change of



84

meaning together with stressing temporariness and increasing activity was detected

quite substantially in the BNC. All of such occurrences were found in the instances of

the progressive form of realise.



85

2.3. Questionnaire

Since the method I employ in the analysis of the circumstances under which the

verbs occur in the progressive form is essentially based on determining other people‟s

motives for such usage, I believe I need to comment on this approach. As has already

been pointed out, in analyzing the motives I focus on the register, context, tenses, and

specific words used in the given context. It is also very important to take into account

the idiosyncrasies of the authors of utterances and expressions, as well as their own

perspectives on each situation they depict or comment on, for subjectivity is a very

siginficant aspect of language use. Each speaker or writer may use the progressive form

in their own specific way. This implies that each person detecting the motives analyzes

each instance in their own way as well. It is therefore very difficult, if not impossible, to

provide definite answers in terms of the reasons for employing stative verbs with the

progressive. Moreover, these answers can be neither right nor wrong, for two different

people may have two different opinions about a given instance of a stative verb with the

progressive and they both may have their own justifications.

To demonstrate the degree of subjectivity in language use, as far as statives in

the progressive form are concerned, I have created a questionnaire in which the

respondents are asked to guess the reasons for the employment of stative verbs in this

form in the given examples. They are offered to choose from the motives that are

discussed in the chapter on the theories on statives with the progressive. Furthermore,

they are invited to indicate other motives of their own. However, not all of the reasons

the thesis deals with are proposed in the questionnaire, for its formation had to be

completed quite early and the analysis of grammar books was only in process at that

time. Still, the questionnaire offers majority of the potential motives.

The following table demonstrates how each of the respondents assessed each of



86

the given instances of stative verbs with the progressive. The respondents on the left

from the bold line are the ESL students, while the native speakers are situated on the

right from the bold line. The questionnaire provides information on the degree of

subjectivity in the use of stative progressives.



87

Table 23

Answers from Questionnaires

Ex.

R e s p o n d e n t 1









R e s p o n d e n t

1 0

R e s p o n d e n t

1 1

R e s p o n d e n t

1 2

ex. 1 b b, i i e, h e i e, i e d e j i

ex. 2 c h, i b, e b, e b, e b e b b e, i f d

ex. 3 d d d, e a a a, g b b, d aa, b,

de d, e

ex. 4 c b, h h i e, h b e e j e d e

ex. 5 b i b, e e e d, i e i i b b b, e

ex. 6 ad, f,

jd b, i

a, e,

ih e d, i a d d d, g

ex. 7 i d c f, h b, j i i b i a, b a, d j

ex. 8 e h f f d, e b, j i f f e f d, e

ex. 9 f b, f f, h b, i h, j b g d b b, i b k

ex. 10 f c c c e, i c c e j f c c

ex. 11 b b, i b, i b b, h b b b, j a b h b, d,

e, k

ex. 12 h f e, f d, f b, i a, f e e b b, i e b, i

ex. 13 b b d, f b, i b d b b, d b b a, d b, d

j

ex. 14 e b b b, e b, i b b d b b, e b b, d

ex. 15 i j d a a, i a e e, j a d, e g a

ex. 16 e e c d a j i i da, b,

e b c, d

ex. 17 ba, c,

df a a a, d a d e a d

a, c,

k

ex. 18 a a, i a, b a, e b, h b, e,

ja b, d a b d a, d

ex. 19 a a, e g a a, d a e g a a, d a a, b

ex. 20 b b, i b, h b a, b b i d d e, i ca, d,

g



88

As the table reveals, the respondents differ from each other in analyzing the use

of the given verbs with the progressive. Each of them seems to deal with such usage in

their own subjective way. In some examples, the answers vary to a large degree, as in

the example 16, where almost each of the respondents answered in a different way.

However, there are also instances where people were more unified in their answers, as

in the example 14. Here, most of the respondents think that the answer is b.

Nevertheless, they still differ in the sense that some of the respondents believe it is

exclusively b, whereas others think the answer is rather a combination of b with either e,

i, or d .

When the answers of the ESL students are compared with the responses of the

native speakers, it is obvious that these two groups differ from each other, as far as their

view on the use of stative verbs with the progressive is concerned. However, it is also

evident that the native speakers themselves vary in their views on such usage. This fact

substantially supports the notion of subjectivity in language use, as far as stative

progressives are concerned. Furthermore, both native speakers commented in the same

manner on the usage in the examples 9 and 17. These are examples of the verbs know

and understand in the progressive form. Both native speakers argue that this

employment is incorrect in English. Still, it is obvious that there are reasons, probably

subjective, for such usage.

The differences of the answers due to sex of the respondents are not analyzed,

for only two respondents are men. For the questionnaires see Appendix 2.2.



89

CONCLUSION

In the thesis, I examined and compared the selected verbs of cognition, emotion,

and attitude, as far as their employment with the progressive is concerned. The aim of

the analysis was to find out if the given verbs are similar in this respect as a group or if

they differ from each other, and if the theories on stative verbs with the progressive

correspond to the actual usage of these verbs. Furthermore, the purpose of the thesis

was also to reveal the degree of subjectivity in the use of stative progressives.

The analysis clearly shows that the selected verbs differ from each other and are

not similar as a group, as for their use with the progressive. It is important to point out

that none of the verbs avoid this form completely. Nevertheless, it is evident that not all

of them easily take it. The verbs wish, realise, love, and especially want occur fairly

frequently with the progressive, whereas know and suppose are rarely employed in this

form. While most of the verbs are found primarily in fiction or spoken language, fear

and love are employed with the progressive predominantly in newspaper. Furthermore,

the verbs love, believe, and fear are used with the progressive primarily to emphasize

emotiveness. Want , wish, like, know, and realise occur in this form mainly in order to

stress temporariness. While understand is employed with the progressive predominantly

to stress the moment of speaking, the verb suppose is used chiefly to express politeness

and tentativeness. Nevertheless, it must be pointed out that the verbs also have

something in common. As for academic language, the majority of verbs occur rarely or

never in this register. This indicates that stative progressives may be considered

informal and improper.

It has also been detected that the analyzed verbs differ as far as their divison into

cognitive and rather emotional states is concerned. The five verbs expressing emotions

tend to be employed with the progressive more frequently than the five verbs associated



90

with cognitive states. Moreover, the verbs of emotional states are also more often used

in order to express emotiveness than the verbs of cognitive states.

Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that the theories on stative verbs with the

progressive correspond only to a certain extent to the actual employment of the selected

verbs. Two reasons proposed in various grammar books were not found at all. These are

the motive of expressing recent occurrence and immediate future. Several reasons

occurred only marginally. These are as follows: expressing increasing activity of a verb,

the explanatory use, and the change of the meaning of a verb. However, the change of

meaning is one of the most frequent motives for using the progressive form of realise.

In most cases, it changes its meaning to to arrive at realising . The rest of the reasons

discussed in various grammar books were detected fairly often in the corpus. The most

frequent motives for employing the verbs with the progressive are the following: the

stress on emotiveness, temporariness, duration, the moment of speaking, and expressing

politeness and tentativeness. Although the motive of presenting a state as a matter of

course does not generally occur very often, it was detected fairly significantly in the

instances of want . Two other reasons were detected, in addition to the motives presented

in the linguistic literature. These are stylistic reasons and giving immediacy to a generic

statement. It can be thus seen that stative progressives occur not only due to

grammatical or semantic reasons, but also stylistic motives. Giving immediacy is

frequently a motive for employing the progressive form of want , while stylistic reasons

most often bring about the use of the progressive form of believe.

It has also been revealed that the given verbs sometimes occur with the

progressive due to more than just one reason. It is obvious that these reasons overlap.

There are combinations of two or even three motives that bring about such usage. The

selected verbs differ in this respect as well. Each of the verbs is used with the



91

progressive due to different combinations of reasons. Nevertheless, several

combinations were detected in instances of most of the given verbs. The emphasis on

emotiveness and duration were found very often together, particularly in the

occurrences of the verbs love, wish, want , believe, and fear . Other frequent

combinations are as follows: the stress on emotiveness and temporariness, the emphasis

on immediate present and emotiveness, expressing politeness together with the stress on

temporariness. The most frequent combination of three reasons is the emphasis on

temporariness together with the change of meaning and expressing increasing activity.

This combination was found only in the instances of the verb realise.

Last but not least, the analysis of the questionnaire answers shows that there is a

high degree of subjectivity in the use of stative verbs with the progressive. Each of the

respondents of the questionnaire assesses the instances of stative progressives in their

own way. Although the respondents sometimes provide identical answers, in most cases

they either answer completely differently or guess the same motive and only differ in

the motive with which they combine it. It can be also seen that the ESL students differ

from the native speakers, as far as their views on the use of stative verbs with the

progressive is concerned. Nevertheless, it is important to state that the native speakers

differ from each other in their views on such usage as well. This finding is very

significant, as far as the notion of subjectivity in the use of stative progressives is

concerned.

By means of the questionnaire I was able to demonstrate that the detection of

people‟s motivations for the use of stative verbs with the progressive is a rather

problematic issue. It is obvious that people have their own views on the employment of

stative progressives. It is therefore impossible for the person detecting the motives to

provide definite answers in terms of the intentions of each speaker or writer. What is



92

more, a person detecting the motivations also has their own views on stative

progressives, which are reflected in their analysis of each such instance. On that

account, it is important to emphasize that the analysis provided in the thesis is by no

means exhaustive, for a person may use a stative verb in the progressive form for a

certain reason that is evident only to them. Moreover, certain motives for the use of

stative verbs with the progressive cannot be detected from the text itself, such as a

specific style of an author, or the fact that a speaker may use a particular stative verb in

the progressive form due to its trendiness or frequent use in a particular period of time,

etc. On the other hand, it should be pointed out that, in many cases, the context plays a

very significant role in the analysis of the motives. Therefore, it must be always taken

into account.





94

Huddleston, Rodney (1984) Introduction to the Grammar of English. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Huddleston, Rodney; Bauer, Laurie; and Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002) The Cambridge

Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Joos, Martin (1964) The English Verb: Form and Meanings. Madison: University of

Wisconsin Press.

Leech, Geoffrey Neil (1971) Meaning and the English Verb. London: Longman.

Long, Ralph Bernard (1961) The Sentence and Its Parts: A Grammar of Contemporary

English. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

McEnery, Tony; Xiao, Richard; and Tono, Yukio (2006) Corpus-based Language

Studies: An Advanced Resource Book . London: Routledge.

Millington Ward, John (1966) The Use of Tenses in English. London: Logmans, Green.

Palmer, Frank Robert (1974) The English Verb. London: Longman.

Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; and Svartvik, Jan (1985) A

Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.

Roey, Jacques van (1982) English Grammar: Advanced Level . Utrecht: Didier-Hatier.

Rot, Sándor (1988) On Crucial Problems of the English Verb. Frankfurt am Main: Peter

Lang.

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Press.

Spasov, Dimiter (1972) The Verb in the Structure of English: A Practical Course for

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London: Longman.





CZECH RÉSUMÉ / ČESKÉ RESUMÉ

Práce se zabývá analýzou stavových sloves v progresivní formě. Toto užití je

v anglickém jazyce dosti problematické. Ačkoli mnoho odborníků tvrdí, že stavová

slovesa jsou s progresivem neslučitelná, předkládají různé okolnosti, za kterých se toto

spojení vyskytnout může.

V práci se zaměřuji na konkrétní skupinu stavových sloves - slovesa vyjadřující

poznání, emoce a postoje. Prostřednictvím Britského národního korpusu zkoumám

vybraná slovesa z hlediska jejich výskytu v progresivní formě. Pozornost věnuji

jazykovým stylům, ve kterých se daná slova nachází a hlavně důvodům k jejich užití

v progresivu. Slovesa jsou analyzována samostatně a také porovnána mezi sebou.

Cílem práce je zjistit, zda mají vybraná slovesa, co se týče výskytu v progresivu,

společné vlastnosti. Kromě toho práce zkoumá, jak odpovídají teorie zabývající se tímto

jevem skutečnému užití analyzovaných sloves. Jelikož je má analýza založena na

odhadování důvodů k použití stavových sloves v progresivu, formou dotazníku také

zkoumám, do jaké míry je toto užití otázka subjektivního posouzení.

Z výzkumu vyplývá, že daná slovesa se z hlediska používání v progresivní

formě značně liší a to četností výskytů, jazykovými styly, ve kterých se v této podobě

nachází a také okolnostmi, za kterých jsou v této formě použita. Teorie zabývající se

stavovými slovesy v progresivu se jen do určité míry shodují se skutečným užitím

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Stative Verbs MA_Thesis

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