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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Stative Verbs?
Stative Verbs?
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marios
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Stative Verbs?
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Could you please help me out here?
Which of these sentences is correct and why:
Mary was living in Spain when the earthquake destroyed her house.
Mary lived in Spain when the earthquake destroyed her house.
I�m under the impression that live is a stative verb and therefore can�t be used in the Past Continuous. However, both sentences sound correct to my ears. What do you think? |
7 Dec 2009
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Mariethe House
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I would say Mary
"lived in Spain when the earthquake that destoyed her house took place"
or "Mary was living in Spain when the earthquake that destroyed her house happened"
What does not sound quite right is the juxtaposition of the 2 events!
Well, someone will find a better explanation!
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7 Dec 2009
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canterina
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I think they are both ok. Was living is acceptable as it was a temporary state. For the same reason you can say "I �m loving it" |
7 Dec 2009
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Baadache
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Hi , both are correct but the first is more appropriate, ( I mean with the past continuous) |
7 Dec 2009
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anatavner
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"live" is NOT a stative verb. It is a regular verb. I would say the first one is more appropriate, but both are OK.
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7 Dec 2009
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mjpa
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Yes, I agree with anatavner, live is not a stative verb. And although both sentences sound correct, grammatically speaking the first one is the correct since it refers to a an actions which took place for a long time when it�s interrupted by another one. The present continuous tense is used for the long action whereas the simple past is used for the action which interrumps the other. |
7 Dec 2009
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aquarius_gr
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Sorry to bring this older post back up but I would like to help out.
Both sentences are 100% grammatically correct but do mean different things.
"Live" is not a stative verb, as mentioned, therefore both tenses are possible.
"was living in Spain" clearly means she was in Spain temporarily - not planning to live there forever.
"lived in Spain" means she had permanent residence there - she always lived there or moved there at some point for good.
In both cases "her house" doesnt make a difference at all - it could mean "the house she owned/rented", which doesn �t imply anything about her being in Spain.
In both cases we don �t know when exactly she left Spain but we do know she did after the earthquake.
Depending on the text though, only one can be used.
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19 Dec 2009
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