Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verbs › Present Tense › Cognitive States
Present Tense: Cognitive States
Express thinking, cognition and attitude
Cognitive States vs. Active Thinking
| STATIC– NONPROGRESSIVE | ||
|---|---|---|
A static verb indicates a state. The verbs below are states of "cognition" (know, believe, think, understand, recognize, remember). They express how we passively and mentally process the world around us. A static verb usually takes the nonprogressive verb form; however, current usage is changing, specially with like and feel. |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | VERB — STATIC | NP / WH-PHRS / THAT-CLS |
He |
knows |
the truth. what the truth is. (that) you are truthful. |
He |
believes |
the speaker. what the speaker said. (that) the speaker is correct. |
He |
thinks |
(that) he can win.
|
He |
understands (get the meaning or idea of; comprehend) |
the problem.
|
He |
realizes (be aware of) |
his mistake |
He |
recognizes |
the difficulty (identify from knowledge) |
He |
doesn't remember (comes to mind) |
your name. forget, recall, recollect |
He |
forgets |
my name. (unable to recall) his keys. (accidently leave behind) |
He |
loves |
He her. NOT He is loving her. (has affinity) |
He |
misses |
He her. (feels sad without her) |
He |
hates |
He living in the city. |
He |
appreciates |
He your work. |
He |
likes |
school.
|
He |
feels (dynamic –believe, have a strong opinion) |
strongly about this issue. that this is unfair. (feel with the meaning of "believe" is rarely progressive. See Feel.) (Swan 202.2) |
| PROGRESSIVE | ||
|---|---|---|
A progressive verb form can expresses different meaning: (1) performing a cognitive activity [dynamic] (think and remember); ongoing experience [static] (liking, loving, hating, wanting, feeling) (3) gradual change in state or experience [static] (believe, realize, recognize, understand). Note that only dynamic verbs accept adverbs of manner (-ly). |
||
| SUBJECT | PREDICATE | COMPLEMENT |
| NP | VERB—DYN / STA | NOUN / PP/ THAT CLAUSE |
He |
*is knowing |
the subject. *Not used. Uselearn instead. |
He |
*is believing is believing (static-gradual change in confidence) |
his lies. in himself more now.
|
He |
is thinking (dyn.-using mental reasoning) |
carefully about it.
|
He He |
*is understanding is understanding (static-gradual change in comprehending) |
the problem. the problem.
|
He He |
*is realizing is realizing (static-gradual change in comprehension) |
the answer. what he must do. |
He He |
*is recognizing) is recognizing (static-gradual change in identifying) |
you. the difficulty. his son. (acknowledge legally) |
He He |
*isn't remembering is remembering (dynamic–actively remembering) |
your name. gradually what happened. |
He He |
*is forgetting is forgetting (static –ongoing, leaving something behind) |
my name. his keys. |
He He
|
*is loving is loving (static–ongoing enjoyment) |
her. New York. (inf.) |
I |
~am missing (static –experience ongoing sadness) am missing (static –experience temporary loss) |
my family.
my keys. |
I |
~am hating (static –experience ongoing upset) |
this. (inf.) |
I
|
~am appreciating (static –express gratefulness) is appreciating. (static –gaining in value) |
help.
|
He
How |
*is liking ~am liking ~are you liking
|
school. this. (static –emphasis on the on-going experience) this? |
— |
— |
—
|
*not used / ~ questionable usage; not preferred usage; requires a special context
inf. — informal usage
cognitive (Adj) – the mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment
dynamic (Adj) — in grammar, dynamic verbs express activities, actions that we do or perform. For this reason, they can take progressive verb forms.
forget (V)—carries the meaning of recalling an earlier activity; mostly used in past or present perfect tenses. See "I Forget".
gradually (Adv) —little by little, taking place, changing by small degrees
mental (Adj) – of or pertaining to the mind (Also used for those affected by mental illness or impairment)
¹ miss (V) — discover or feel the absence of (Normally, it used to express the absence of a person or persons. But also used for something that is temporarily lost.)
NP (Noun Phrase); Wh-Phrs (Wh- Phrase); That+Cls (Verb + That-Clause List)
My keys are missing.— (Adj) – lost (Swan 352) There is something missing. (Huddleston 170, 1438)
I am missing my keys. — (static verb) — experiencing an ongoing, temporary loss (informal) "not in possession of"; Are you missing something? (used with an inanimate object such as keys, mobile phone, wallet.) See Active Experience below.
Cognitive Processing
Changing State of Mind
Expressing Cognitive Change
| INFINITIVE CLAUSE |
|---|
Cognition is usually expressed with a nonprogressive verb; however, it can be expressed as an ongoing process (a state undergoing change) by using an infinitive clause. |
He's starting to think about finding a new job. |
We are beginning to understand the problem. |
They are trying to remember what happened. |
They are starting to realize what they can do. |
They are continuing to appreciate their situation. |
| PRESENT PERFECT |
|---|
Not all, but some "cognitive" verbs can express an ongoing state by using the present perfect, which indicates an action that began in the past and continues up until the present. |
He has been thinking about finding a new job. |
She has been wanting to go to college. |
He has been liking his new job. |
We have been loving our new car. (enjoying) |
She has been missing her family. (feeling homesick) |
Changing Usage
Active Experience
Expressing Experience—New vs. Traditional
| NEWER USAGE |
|---|
The examples below have been in use since the 1980s (or earlier.) The informality could be appealing to the customer, putting the customer at ease, or it could be annoying to the customer, having to listen to affected speech. |
How are you liking your food? (restaurants: ongoing sensory experience; enjoy) |
How are you liking your new school? (active adjustment period) |
McDonald's: I'm lovin' it!
|
| TRADITIONAL USAGE |
|---|
In traditional use, like and love are not used in the progressive form. They are states of mind. No amount of time will change whether you do or do not like or love something. Nonprogressive is the more formal usage. |
How do you like your food.
|
How do you like your new school. (emotional response) |
I love it. (Is is someone taking action to do something or is someone experiencing something passively?) |
affected spech (Adj) – artificial or unnatural sounding, overly solicitous
Works Cited
- Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
- Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
Practice 1
Changing How We Think
Present or present progressive?
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.