Is the verb used in the continuous form? What is the difference between stative and dynamic verbs?

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 661.

AND PRESENT CONTINUOUS

PRACTICE WITH PRESENT SIMPLE

Look up a Grammar book and find answers to the following questions:

· What does the Present Simple denote?

· What does the Present Continuous denote?

We call a few verbs like love stative because they refer to “states”. A state has no beginning and no end. We don't “control“ it, so we don't normally use stative verbs in continuous (progressive) tenses.

I think you are right.

We can describe three classes of verbs:

ö Dynamic verbs which have simple or progressive forms (most verbs in English)

I often speak to our Works Manager. I'm speaking to him now.

ö Verbs which are always stative:

This quotation belongs to me.

ö Verbs that have stative or dynamic uses:

They are looking (a deliberate action) at her in anger

because she looks (a state) awful.

Society sees the true costs of making one decision rather than another. (see = understand)

There are five groups of stative verbs referring to:

ö Feelings (like, love, hate,…)

ö Thinking/believing (think, understand, believe, mean, suppose, know, remember, denote, assume, forget, realise,…)

ö Perception (hear, see, smell, sound, taste,…)

ö Wants (want, prefer, need, desire,…)

ö Being/having/owning (appear, seem, belong, possess,… etc.)

Note! Some of the above verbs have more than one meaning: we can see these verbs in the continuous when they describe actions:

Note! Verbs of physical feeling (feel, ache, hurt, etc.) can be used in either the continuous or simple forms.

I feel ill. I am feeling ill.

Exercise 1

Complete the sentences. Use the present simple of the verbs in brackets:

1. Jet engines (make) a lot of noise.

2. She (work)from Monday to Friday. She (not / work) at weekends.

3. We (not/come) from Canada. We (come) from the USA.

4. All production (involve) a cost.

5. The capital resources (include) a variety of tools and machines.

6. A producer (to make) the goods or (to provide) the services that consumers (to use).

7. Scarcity (to force) you to decide what you want most.

8. When a person (to make) a choice between two possible uses of his resources, he is making a tradeoff between them.

9. If a nation (to increase) its production of consumer goods, its people will live better today.

10. Since every economic decision (to require) a choice, economics is a study of tradeoffs.

Exercise 2

Complete the questions in the present simple. Mind that we use do/does to make questions and negative sentences.

1. If you need money, why ... (you / not / get) a job?

2. I don't understand the word “tradeoff”. What ... (tradeoff / mean)?

3. This decision is perfect. Why ... (you / not / evaluate) my choice?

4. Who ... (understand) the true costs of making one decision rather than another?

5. Since resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, who ... (make / choices) about people's wants?

6. If you make choices that best satisfy your wants, what ... (you / to be aware of)?

7. As each choice involves costs, how ... (we / call) the value of time, money, goods and services given up in making a choice?

8. If a person has a lot of choices, then how many ... (opportunity costs / exist)?

9. If economic models are used to help solve economic problems, what ... (their usefulness / depend on)?

Exercise 3