TransWikia.com

Can actions be one-off orlast for a period? Is it correct to say "He hid behind the door a few minutes ago and now he is hiding behind the door"?

English Language & Usage Asked on February 24, 2021

Let’s say, a light is now in its off-state (not operating) and then I pressed the switch and I say "I turned on the light"

And now the light is in its on-state (operating) and we say "The light is on now".

So, for the verb "to turn on the light", we have an adjective "on" to express its state.

Do we say "I closed my eyes 1 minute ago and now you don’t see them because they are closed" or "I closed my eyes 1 minute ago and now you don’t see them because I am closing my eyes"?

Do we say "I covered my face with a blanket 1 minute ago and now you don’t see it because it is under the blanket" or "I covered my face with a blanket 1 minute ago and now you don’t see it because I am covering it with a blanket"?

Do we say "He hid behind the door a few minutes ago now you don’t see him because he is hiding behind the door" or "He hid behind the door a few minutes ago and now you don’t see him because he is behind the door"?

But some verbs can be both one-off and state.

For example, "I saw her a few minutes ago and now I see her". We don’t need a completely different structure to express the state of "see".

or, "I kissed her 1 minute ago and now I am kissing her"

or, "I listened to the song 1 minute ago and now I am listening to the song"

or, "I lay in bed 1 minute ago and now I am lying in bed"

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP