Masaryk University
Faculty of Arts
Department of English
and 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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I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.
……………………………………………..
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Acknowledgement
I 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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relationship (e.g. to seem), and aspectual verbs (e.g. to begin). However, they state that
“it is important to note that many verbs have multiple meanings from different semantic
domains” (Biber et al. 1999: 361). According to Frawley (1992: 145), events denoted by
verbs fall into four classes - acts, states, causes, and motion.
Furthermore, Biber et al. (1999: 452) claim that verb phrases vary with respect
to six major structural distinctions - tense, aspect, voice, modality, negation, and clause
structure type. They suggest that “these structural distinctions correspond to a number
of semantic distinctions” (Biber et al. 1999: 452). Nevertheless, they also emphasize
that “there is no one-to-one correspondence between form and meaning in the verb
phrase. Rather, a single structural variant can represent quite different meanings; and
similar meanings can be expressed by different structural variants” (Biber et al. 1999:
452). As Huddleston et al. (2002: 118) maintain, “the interpretation and use of tense,
aspect, and (to a lesser extent) mood depends on the kind of situation expressed in the
clause”. They propose four kinds of situations - states, activities, accomplishments, and
achievements (Huddleston et al. 2002: 118). Quirk et al. (1985: 200-9) present eleven
situation types - qualities (e.g. to be tall), states (e.g. to love), stance (e.g. to stand),
goings-on (e.g. to snow), activities (e.g. to drink), processes (e.g. to ripen),
accomplishments (e.g. to discover), momentary events (e.g. to sneeze), momentary acts
(e.g. to nod), transitional events (e.g. to catch), and transitional acts (e.g. to begin).
Qualities, states, and stance are stative types, whereas the rest of the situations are
dynamic types (Quirk et al. 1985: 201). They emphasize that:
we draw a broad distinction between dynamic (count) meanings and stative
(noncount) meanings of verbs. It should be noted, though, that we talk of
dynamic and stative meanings, rather than dynamic and stative verbs. This is
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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:
24
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)
25
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
REGISTER LOVE
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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
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
temporariness T 2 — — 1 — 1
PM 0.02 — — 0.1 — 0.02
increasing,
decreasing activity
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T 2 — — 2 — —
PM 0.02 — — 0.19 — —
duration T 15 2 3 7 — 3
PM 0.15 0.2 0.19 0.67 — 0.07
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 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
REGISTER LIKE
TOKENS PER MIL
all registers
(96,263,399 words) 16 0.17
spoken
(9,963,663 words) 5 0.5
fiction
(15,909,312 words) 8 0.5
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) — —
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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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
temporariness T 9 3 4 — — 2
PM 0.09 0.3 0.25 — — 0.04
increasing,
decreasing activity
T 1 1 — — — —
PM 0.01 0.1 — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
duration T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 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
REGISTER FEAR
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
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) 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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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 — — —
temporariness T 4 — — 3 — 1
PM 0.04 — — 0.29 — 0.02
increasing,
decreasing activity
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
duration T 8 — 4 3 — 1
PM 0.08 — 0.25 0.29 — 0.02
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T — — — — — —
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
REGISTER WANT
TOKENS PER MIL
all registers
(96,263,399 words) 369 3.83
spoken
(9,963,663 words) 153 15.36
fiction
(15,909,312 words) 135 8.49
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) 22 2.1
academic
(15,331,668 words) 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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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
temporariness T 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
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T 13 3 6 — — 4
PM 0.13 0.3 0.38 — — 0.09
duration T 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
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 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
REGISTER WISH
TOKENS PER MIL
all registers
(96,263,399 words) 79 0.82
spoken
(9,963,663 words) 13 1.3
fiction
(15,909,312 words) 34 2.14
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) 10 0.96
academic
(15,331,668 words) 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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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 — —
temporariness T 33 7 9 7 1 9
PM 0.33 0.7 0.57 0.67 0.07 0.2
increasing,
decreasing activity
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T 3 — — 1 — 2
PM 0.03 — — 0.1 — 0.04
duration T 17 1 8 1 — 7
PM 0.17 0.1 0.5 0.1 — 0.16
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 12 4 — 2 1 5
PM 0.12 0.4 — 0.19 0.07 0.11
stylistic, rhetorical
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.
REGISTER KNOW
TOKENS PER MIL
all registers
(96,263,399 words) 11 0.11
spoken
(9,963,663 words) 3 0.3
fiction
(15,909,312 words) 4 0.25
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) — —
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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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 — — — — — —
temporariness T 5 1 2 — — 2
PM 0.05 0.1 0.13 — — 0.04
increasing,
decreasing activity
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
duration T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 3 1 2 — — —
PM 0.03 0.1 0.13 — — —
stylistic, rhetorical
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
REGISTER UNDERSTAND
TOKENS PER MIL
all registers
(96,263,399 words) 24 0.25
spoken
(9,963,663 words) 11 1.1
fiction
(15,909,312 words) 5 0.31
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) — —
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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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
temporariness T 8 6 — — 1 1
PM 0.08 0.6 — — 0.07 0.02
increasing,
decreasing activity
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T 4 2 1 — — 1
PM 0.04 0.2 0.06 — — 0.02
duration T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
stylistic, rhetorical
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.
REGISTER BELIEVE
TOKENS PER MIL
all registers
(96,263,399 words) 23 0.24
spoken
(9,963,663 words) 2 0.2
fiction
(15,909,312 words) 7 0.44
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) 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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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
temporariness T 4 1 1 — — 2
PM 0.04 0.1 0.06 — — 0.04
increasing,
decreasing activity
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T 1 — 1 — — —
PM 0.01 — 0.06 — — —
duration T 6 — 2 1 — 3
PM 0.06 — 0.13 0.1 — 0.07
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 2 — — — — 2
PM 0.02 — — — — 0.04
stylistic, rhetorical
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
REGISTER REALISE
TOKENS PER MIL
all registers
(96,263,399 words) 71 0.74
spoken
(9,963,663 words) 12 1.2
fiction
(15,909,312 words) 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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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 — — —
temporariness T 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
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T 1 1 — — — —
PM 0.01 0.1 — — — —
duration T 18 2 7 1 2 6
PM 0.18 0.2 0.44 0.1 0.13 0.13
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 1 — — — — 1
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
danger 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
newspaper
(10,466,422 words) — —
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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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 — — —
temporariness T 2 — 2 — — —
PM 0.02 — 0.13 — — —
increasing,
decreasing activity
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
immediate future T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
habitual, sporadic
repetition
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
duration T 2 — 2 — — —
PM 0.02 — 0.13 — — —
interpretive,
explanatory use
T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
recent occurrence T — — — — — —
PM — — — — — —
a matter of course T 2 1 1 — — —
PM 0.02 0.1 0.06 — — —
stylistic, rhetorical
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
75
but not least, suppose is also evidently used for stylistic and rhetorical reasons: "…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." "What am I supposing?" (BNC: HTX). The repetition
suggests a quick response to what has just been said and it thus stresses the quarrel
between the people involved. It makes the situation more dramatic. The example was
found in fiction, where the demand on dramatic character of an action is very common.
As far as the combinations of the motives are concerned, several instances were
detected. The progressive form of suppose occurred twice to express politeness and at
the same time the present period of time, as in the following example: "We are to give
whatever help we can," McPhee told Owen. "How far does the help extend?" asked
Owen. The Prince smiled. "Not as 6r as you are evidently supposing," he said (BNC:
J10). Both occurrences of this usage were found in fiction. Furthermore, conveying
politeness was also once detected together with depicting a situation as a matter of
course: 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). Presenting a situation as a matter of course was also
found in combination with another motive, particularly with the stress on duration:
Though if he took his own life, as everyone has always supposed, and as we are still
likely to be supposing after the present rumours have been scotched… (BNC: J17). Not
less importantly, a combination of rhetorical and stylistic reasons together with the
emphasis on the moment of speaking was detected in the given occurrences. This
example have already been dealt with: "…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." "What am I
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
all
reg
iste
rs
spok
en
fict
ion
new
spap
er
aca
dem
ic
mis
cell
an
eou
s
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 — — 0.07
L 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
WISH
T 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
LO
VE
(31)
LIK
E (
16)
FE
AR
(14)
WA
NT
(36
9)
WIS
H (
79)
KN
OW
(11)
UN
DE
RS
TA
ND
(24)
BE
LIE
VE
(23)
RE
AL
ISE
(71)
SU
PP
OS
E (
11)
politeness,
tentativeness — 3 1 84 6 2 4 8 1 6
emotional
colouring 22 5 10 71 30 1 — 9 2 —
change of
the meaning 5 — — — — — 1 — 43 —
the moment of
speaking 4 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
repetition 2 — — 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
stylistic, rhetorical
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
esp
on
den
t 1
Res
pon
den
t 2
Res
pon
den
t 3
Res
pon
den
t 4
Res
pon
den
t 5
Res
pon
den
t 6
Res
pon
den
t 7
Res
pon
den
t 8
Res
pon
den
t 9
Res
pon
den
t 10
Res
pon
den
t 1
1
Res
pon
den
t 12
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 a a, b,
d e 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 a d, f,
j d b, i
a, e,
i h 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 d a, b,
e b c, d
ex. 17 b a, c,
d f 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,
j a 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 c a, 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.
93
REFERENCES
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Biber, Douglas; Conrad, Susan; and Reppen, Randi (1998) Corpus Linguistics:
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Biber, Douglas; Johansson, Stig; Leech, Geoffrey; Conrad, Susan; and Finegan, Edward
(1999) Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Longman.
Bowker, Lynne and Pearson, Jennifer (2002) Working With Specialized Language : A
Practical Guide to Using Corpora. London: Routledge.
British National Corpus. <http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/>.
Charleston, Britta Marian (1941) Studies on the Syntax of the English Verb. Bern: A.
Francke.
Comrie, Bernard (1976) Aspect: An Introduction to the Study of Verbal Aspect and
Related Problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frawley, William (1992) Linguistic Semantics. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum
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Givón, Talmy (1993) English Grammar: A Function-Based Introduction. Amsterdam:
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Gordon, Jelena Michajlovna and Krylova, Inna Pavlovna (1974) A Grammar of
Present-day English: (Parts of Speech). Moscow: Higher School Publishing
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Greenbaum, Sidney (1996) The Oxford English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
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Huddleston, Rodney (1984) Introduction to the Grammar of English. Cambridge:
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Huddleston, Rodney; Bauer, Laurie; and Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002) The Cambridge
Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Leech, Geoffrey Neil (1971) Meaning and the English Verb. London: Longman.
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McEnery, Tony; Xiao, Richard; and Tono, Yukio (2006) Corpus-based Language
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Millington Ward, John (1966) The Use of Tenses in English. London: Logmans, Green.
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Sinclair, John (1991) Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Oxford: Oxford University
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Spasov, Dimiter (1972) The Verb in the Structure of English: A Practical Course for
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95
RÉSUMÉ
The thesis deals with the analysis of stative verbs with the progressive. This
particular usage is a rather problematic issue in the English language. Though many
scholars argue that stative verbs are incompatible with the progressive, they propose
various circumstances under which such employment may occur.
In the thesis, I focus on a particular group of stative verbs - verbs of cognition,
emotion, and attitude. By means of the British National Corpus, I examine the selected
verbs in terms of their use in the progressive form. I concentrate on the registers in
which they occur and, above all, on the reasons for their employment with the
progressive. The verbs are analyzed independently as well as compared with each other.
The aim of the thesis is to find out whether the selected verbs are similar as a
group, as far as their employment with the progressive is concerned. Moreover, the
correspondence of the theories on stative progressives to the actual usage of these verbs
is investigated. As the method I employ for the analysis is essentially based on assessing
people‟s motives for this particular usage, I also attempt to, by means of a
questionnaire, demonstrate the degree of subjectivity in the use of stative progressives.
The analysis reveals that the selected verbs are not similar in terms of their use
with the progressive. They differ in frequency of their occurrence, reasons for their use
in this form, and registers in which they occur. The theories on stative progressives
corresponds to the actual usage of the selected verbs only to a certain degree.
Furthermore, the analysis of the questionnaires shows that people differ in their views
on stative verbs with the progressive.
96
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
daných sloves. Analýza dotazníků navíc ukazuje, že lidé se ve svých pohledech na tento
jazykový jev liší.
