Definition:
A verb used primarily to indicate an action, process, or sensation as opposed to a state. Contrast with stative verb.
Examples and Observations:
- "America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair."
(Arnold Toynbee) - "We don't grow older, we grow riper."
(Pablo Picasso) - "The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going."
(George Carlin) - "My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people."
(Orson Welles) - "If a clause can be used to answer the question What happened?, it contains a non-stative (dynamic) verb. If a clause cannot be so used, it contains a stative verb. . . .
"It is now accepted practice to divide dynamic verbs into three classes. . . . Activity, accomplishment and achievement verbs all denote events. Activities denote events with no built-in boundary and stretching out over time. Achievements denote events conceived of as occupying no time at all. Accomplishments denote events with an activity phase and a closure phase; they can be spread out over time, but there is a built-in boundary."
(Jim Miller, An Introduction to English Syntax, Edinburgh University Press, 2002)
Also Known As: non-stative verb
