9
votes
Accepted
Common/natural ways we might use the continuous and perfect continuous for the verb "to be" ("will be being", "will have been being")?
There exists a natural incompatibility in the use of the progressive in these particular examples. The verb "to be" is par excellence a stative verb, and here is what A Comprehensive Grammar ...
- 23.9k
8
votes
Accepted
Verb aspect for "be" preceding participle in AAVE
Be in this sense implies a habitual act. In fact, this is commonly called the Habitual be. It's a pretty well-documented element of AAVE. So, yeah, your equivalent of does makes sense in most respects....
- 96
6
votes
Accepted
Past perfect simple - strange usage
Try inserting the word "now" in the second half of the sentence:
The scythe that had done the work [now] leaned against the tree.
Those are two different actions being described, taking place at ...
- 20.5k
4
votes
Common/natural ways we might use the continuous and perfect continuous for the verb "to be" ("will be being", "will have been being")?
Here’s what The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language has to say:
Expressions denoting purely static situations do not combine
felicitously with progressive aspect: . . .
?The Earth is being ...
- 19.7k
4
votes
"stuck" vs "sticking" vs "stick" - Why is this third sentence weird? Issue of: Participles or Aspects?
Let's clear away the irrelevant complications, shall we?
The presenting question is equally clear with these examples:
Mary has the photo stuck on her wall.
Mary has the photo sticking on her wall.
...
- 109k
4
votes
"When I last saw him he was dying, but now you'd hardly know he'd been ill"
You've got it backward: CGEL is saying that for some speakers bare he was dying entails his subsequent death, because dying is a process which ends in death. These speakers insist on something like he ...
- 69.1k
2
votes
Accepted
Use of the present perfect for repetitive actions
There are four different senses of the Perfect construction.
This is an example of the Existential sense.
Existential Perfect: Lola has seen “Casablanca” 23 times.
Describes at least a single ...
- 109k
2
votes
What is the grammar of "CJ Dennis had 2 edit suggestions approved"?
This construction with "have" in American English is most curious. It has the form of a causative construction with main verb "have" meaning "cause" followed by a clause describing the event or ...
- 17.5k
1
vote
"love" as a punctual verb
No, love does not express that. For this meaning, English has the phrase fall in love:
to be very attracted to someone and begin to love them
(Cambridge)
There is also the expression of love at ...
- 37k
1
vote
"stuck" vs "sticking" vs "stick" - Why is this third sentence weird? Issue of: Participles or Aspects?
Lots of people have his photo stuck on their wall.
Here "stuck" is in the past tense, implying that something was done (nails, glue, tape, etc.) to place the photo on the wall and keep it there.
...
- 492
1
vote
AAVE grammar: Difference between "continue to/keep on" vs "steady"
I'm no expert on AAVE, but I believe there is a general tendency in AAVE to change the form VERB ADVERB to ADJECTIVE VERB. Thus (picking an example out of thin air), "eating quickly" might morph into ...
- 27.6k
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