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🏃 Describing action verbs 🏃 An action verb
nonstative

nonstative

8.8
Describing a verb that shows an action or change, not something that stays the same
  • adjective
  • /nɒnˈsteɪtɪv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : no estativo
  • Words like 'discuss' and 'build' are examples of nonstative verbs because they express actions.

Examples

  • In English grammar, a nonstative verb shows an action, such as 'run' or 'jump'.

  • Finally, though Tagliamonte and Lawrence say that 'used to' is "highly restricted to nonstative verbs" (339), we have seen that it does allow stative predicates, as in 7.

    Academic text (2006)

  • When writing sentences, it's important to use nonstative verbs if you want to describe specific actions.

Synonyms

actional
vsnonstative
  • Specialized
8.9

Relating to actions, especially verbs that show doing

refers specifically to verbs showing action or processes rather than states

Antonyms

stative
  • Specialized
8.1

Describing a verb or adjective that shows a state rather than an action

Surface Forms

nonstative positive

Morphology

nonstative = stative (transparent) = non + stative

The negative prefix 'non-' productively negates 'stative', yielding 'not stative' in a straightforward way.

Etymology

The word nonstative comes from non- 'not' and stative, which comes from state 'a condition'. So nonstative as an adjective describes verbs that are 'not' states but actions or processes, like 'run'.