Stative Verbs in the Progressive Form

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important, significant, considerable, momentous, essential, decisive, critical

Hello teacher,
I have a question:
I want to know if โ€˜missโ€™ (to feel sad about someone because they are not with you any more) is a stative or a dynamic verb? If we use this as a dynamic verb with no change in meaning, can we say โ€˜I am missing youโ€™?

You may have heard about Stative (or โ€˜stateโ€™) Verbsโ€“ they are the ones that canโ€™t be used in the progressive form. Hereโ€™s an example:

  • I like it.

โ€˜Likeโ€™ is a stative verb, so we canโ€™t say โ€˜Iโ€™m liking itโ€™. This would be a mistake and your teacher would correct it if you wrote it in a composition.

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If youโ€™re not familiar with state verbs, please click on this link first:

All State Verbs List in English with Examples!

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However, if you are around native speakers a lot, you might notice that they actually say things like โ€˜Iโ€™m liking it.โ€™ or โ€˜Iโ€™m hearing you.โ€™ or โ€˜Iโ€™m missing you.โ€™

How unfair! Language learners all over the world memorize long lists of stative verbs and make sure they donโ€™t use them in the progressive form, while native speakers are free to use them as they please. Or so it seems.

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WHY DO THEY DO IT?

The progressive form expresses a temporary state and this is what you can emphasize when employing it.

  • Iโ€™m liking my new car.

This sentence expresses the idea that itโ€™s something happening around now and itโ€™s not a permanent state. The excitement might soon wear off and I might stop enjoying the experience soon.

Similarly, when we say โ€˜Iโ€™m missing you.โ€™, it shows how intense this emotion is right now.

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This use hasnโ€™t been around for a long time and is still considered incorrect by many teachers. Itโ€™s also informal, so you should definitely avoid using it in formal writing.

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Read more:
List of Verbs Followed by ING Form or Infinitive

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