timtak
Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2005
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- British English
- Home Country
- England
- Current Location
- Japan
There are many verbs that represent mental acts that do not require motion in the present continuous.
There are also a class of verbs that are stative in the present continuous in that they do not require any motion nor apparently a mental act: "posture verbs"
Consider
He is standing / sitting / leaning over / leaning on/ leaning out/ hanging from/ riding/ slouching / kneeling / bending over, bending down / prostrating himself/ lying / holding out his had/ holding his hand up.
These all seem to refer to a state. Or do they? Bearing in mind that the same verbs may be more natural in the present when applied to inanimate objects (e.g. a clock stands in the hall is more natural perhaps than a clock is standing in the hall, winning a googlefight 10 hits to 0), perhaps these posture verbs refer to the mental action, the act of will required to maintain them.
In in which case they would be like the many verbs that refer to mental acts such as thinking feeling which are also used in the present continuous to refer to seeming stative phenomena, where the action is taking place mentally.
However, consider lying and sleeping. Lying down does not seem to require a mental act. Sleeping does not, by definition, require any mental activity at all (except when dreaming).
PS These forums not only log people out quickly, they also do not save changes made, so that after one is forced to log in again, ones post is lost. So if you make a long post you may loose it. I hope that the site admin allows people to remain logged in for longer, or that form data be saved after login. In the mean time I recommend that users save their entries before they post.
There are also a class of verbs that are stative in the present continuous in that they do not require any motion nor apparently a mental act: "posture verbs"
Consider
He is standing / sitting / leaning over / leaning on/ leaning out/ hanging from/ riding/ slouching / kneeling / bending over, bending down / prostrating himself/ lying / holding out his had/ holding his hand up.
These all seem to refer to a state. Or do they? Bearing in mind that the same verbs may be more natural in the present when applied to inanimate objects (e.g. a clock stands in the hall is more natural perhaps than a clock is standing in the hall, winning a googlefight 10 hits to 0), perhaps these posture verbs refer to the mental action, the act of will required to maintain them.
In in which case they would be like the many verbs that refer to mental acts such as thinking feeling which are also used in the present continuous to refer to seeming stative phenomena, where the action is taking place mentally.
However, consider lying and sleeping. Lying down does not seem to require a mental act. Sleeping does not, by definition, require any mental activity at all (except when dreaming).
PS These forums not only log people out quickly, they also do not save changes made, so that after one is forced to log in again, ones post is lost. So if you make a long post you may loose it. I hope that the site admin allows people to remain logged in for longer, or that form data be saved after login. In the mean time I recommend that users save their entries before they post.
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