108 CHAPTER 3. MORE GRAMMAR
3.2.3 Special form conjunctions.
We’re not quite done with the form yet, because there are a number of
special form combinations with verbs that should not be taken literally,
but should be considered idiomatic: they mean something different from
what the used words would normally imply themselves. These combina-
tions only work for verbs in form, and do not apply to verbal adjectives
in form or nouns followed by (or ).
Special conjunctions: /
Combining the form with and profoundly changes the verb’s
meaning in terms of its grammatical role. Using these two verbs as helper
verbs lets us turn any verb into aresultant state, presentprogressiveform
orhabitualact, depending on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive,
and whether we use or. The table of which combinations can
imply which construction is as follows:
+ +
transitive 1. Resultant state 1. Habitual
(implying something or someone caused the state) 2. Progressive
intransitive (impossible combination) 1. Habitual- Progressive
- Resultant state
Looking at the table, we see that the + form is used to indicate
that something is in a particular state, and that this state was caused by
someone or something. Examples of this ”resultant state” are for instance:
”The window is (in an) opened (state) (as someone or something
opened it).””The car is (in a) stopped (state) (as someone or something stopped
it).”This construction describes the state of something, just like a nor-
mal intransitive verb would, but implies that someone is responsible for