States of Sensing
Sensation and perception
Static vs. Dynamic Sensory Verbs
| STATIC VERB |
|---|
A static verb indicates a state of "sensation" or "perception" (hear, see, sound, taste, feel) indicating how we passively experience the world around us. A static verb usually takes the nonprogressive verb form. |
He feels sad about the loss. (Adj) |
I hear what you are saying. (nominal clause) |
I see the picture. (NP) |
Your cello sounds good. (Adj) |
This food tastes spicy. (Adj) |
I feel sick. (Adj) / I am feeling sick. |
| DYNAMIC VERB |
|---|
A dynamic verb expresses an activity, an action that we do or perform. It can take a progressive verb form. Note that the meaning of the dynamic verb may differ from the static verb. |
He is feeling the dots to read the book. ("am touching" – Braille reading) |
I'm hearing you. ("am listening" – informal) |
Mario is seeing Lucia. (is visiting or is dating) |
The cook is sounding the dinner bell. (is ringing) |
The cook is tasting the soup. (is trying or sampling) |
I am feeling¹ your forehead to check for a fever. (am touching) See feel below. |
¹am feeling — It is becoming more common to hear speakers use the progressive form to emphasize time – adapting to something new usage — "How are you feeling about living away from home?" "Is he feeling comfortable with the situation?"
Categories: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective
Feel
Experience a Sensation vs. Taking Action
| FEEK — STATIC |
|---|
Feel has a number of meanings. The static uses are other ways of saying be. (I am hungry. I am strong. My hands are rough.) If you can substitute the word be, then it is a static use. These "linking verbs" are typically followed by adjectives. |
| FEELING / EMOTION – physical, mental, quality state |
I feel hungry / pain / cold / hot. |
| FEEL GOOD / STRANGE / EXITING – an effect |
I feel strong / old / energized / fatigued after I exercise. |
| FEEL SMOOTH / DRY – physical quality |
My hands feel rough / dry / soft / stiff / moist. |
| FEEL HURT – emotional quality |
She felt hurt by his indifference. |
| PHASAL VERBS / EXPRESSIONS |
I feel for you. (sympathize) |
| FEEL — DYNAMIC |
|---|
The dynamic uses of feel range from touching (physical activity) to expressing emotion (mental activity). You can use adverbs with dynamic verbs and you can change the transitive verbs to passive voice. (This is not possible with static verbs.) |
| BE AWARE PHYSICALLY OR EMOTIONALLY |
We felt the earthquake around 2:00 a.m. |
| HAVE AN OPINION / BELIEVE |
I feel strongly about this issue. (not usually progressive, takes an adverb, does not take passive voice) |
| TOUCH |
She felt his forehead to see if he had a fever . |
| SEARCH WITH THE FINGERS |
She felt around her bag to find her keys. |
| PHASAL VERBS / EXPRESSIONS |
We wanted to feel them out before we proposed a deal. (learn their point of view) |
range (v.) – include, vary, go from X to Y, "range from something to something"
(Merriam-Webster 435)
(Swan 202.6)
Pop-Q "Strongly"
Taste
Sensation vs. Investigating Flavor
| TASTE — STATIC |
|---|
The static use of taste expresses how we experience the flavor of something. It mostly occurs in the nonprogressive, but may occur in the progressive to emphasize the experience — at the moment. |
| TASTE + ADJ/ NOUN |
How does the plum taste? It tastes sour. This soup tastes like/of garlic. The food tastes too spicy. |
| RESTAURANT SPEECH (informal usage) |
How does your food taste? (passive sensing) %How is your food tasting? (Is the food sensing?) *This food is tasting too spicy. informal / incorrect |
| TASTE — DYNAMIC |
|---|
The dynamic use of taste expresses the activity of investigating the flavor of something. The progressive form expresses the activity of tasting something with the tongue. Adverbs and passive voice can be used. |
| PERCEIVE / DETECT |
I can taste mint in this cookie. Do you taste a little cinnamon? No, but I can almost taste some vanilla. |
| SAMPLE / TAKE A BITE |
— Don't eat my pizza. — I'm just tasting it.
|
(PEU – 577) (CaGEL 118)
*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.
% Often asked by wait persons (waiters) in restaurants.
Pop-Q "Tasting"
Grammar Notes
Traditional and Linguistic Description
(Advanced)
| TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR – STATIVE VERBS | LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION – STATIC VERBS |
|---|---|
Traditionally, these verbs are called "sensory states", or" stative verbs" or "linking verbs", and they are followed by a predicate adjective (Merriam-Webster 437) |
Subject: noun, Predicate: verb phrase: verb – adjective |
|
|
|
|
CATEGORIES: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective
FUNCTIONS: Subject: Subject, Predicate: Predicator (V) Complements: (elements required by verb) Object, Indirect Object, Predicative Complement Adjuncts: (optional modifiers) Adj, Adv
Practice 1
Activity or Sensation?
- Select the response from the menu that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button.