Q: Transitional Event Verbs

Question

Hi there teachers,

I've been reading about classification of English verbs, and today I read about Transitional Event Verbs, such as land, fall, arrive, die, leave, lose, stop, etc., and I am not able to fully understand the underlined parts, so I need your help with them, please. The site that I've read about it from says that 'event verbs' denoting transition into a new state are used with the progressive to indicate the approach to a transition, rather than the transition itself:

- David was arriving when the bomb exploded.
- Suddenly a helicopter was landing on the beach.

(What does the author mean by "in the plural these verbs can refer to a multiplicity of events", please?)
The site says that in the plural these verbs can refer to a multiplicity of events. The guests were arriving, for example, can either mean a single arrival, (or more likely) a set of arrivals, in progress. In the latter case, the notion of 'approach to a transition' applies differently. It signifies progression towards the final state when all guests will have arrived.

Hearty thanks to all.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Laborious'event verbs' denoting transition into a new state are used with the progressive to indicate the approach to a transition, rather than the transition itself:

The car was stopping when it hit the other car.
eg. The car was in the process of stopping, but had not come to a complete stop. The transition (stop) is the change from moving to not moving. "Moving" indicates the state of being in motion.

The car stopped at the red light.
eg. The car is not moving; the stop is complete.

LaboriousThe site says that in the plural these verbs can refer to a multiplicity of events.

The guests are arriving.

eg. Mary has arrived and having a drink, John is walking up to the door, Karen is getting out of her car, and Colin is driving around looking for a parking space.
All these people are guests in various stages of the process of arrival.

There are four events: Mary's arrival, John's arrival, Karen's arrival and Colin's arrival The "arriving" is complete when all of them are inside.

Laborious · Answer

Thank you dear ma'am. I found your explanation really helpful, and I learned even more about those verbs from that. But the site also says that The guests were arriving could mean either a single arrival in progress or a set of arrivals in progress. But how could this mean a single arrival in progress? With your example, Mary has arrived and having a drink, John is walking up to the door, Karen is getting out of her car, and Colin is driving around looking for a parking space., I understand that this is a set of arrivals, and this set of arrivals is in progress, and these arrivals or this process of arriving the guests will complete or will reach its final state when all the guests have arrived.

Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

LaboriousThe guests were arriving could mean either a single arrival in progress or a set of arrivals in progress. But how could this mean a single arrival in progress?

"were arriving" is always the plural - a number of discrete events.
A single arrival event is always singular. But it can be (the singular) progressive.
Here is a very common example:

Announcement: Flight NL663 is arriving at Gate B23.

That means that the plane has (probably) landed and is taxiing up to the gate, or it has stopped at the gate, and the ramp is being put in position for the passengers to disembark. There is one arrival, and it is not complete at the time of the announcement.

Grammarfreak · Answer

AlpheccaStarsThe car was stopping when it hit the other car.eg. The car was in the process of stopping, but had not come to a complete stop.

I am having trouble digesting this sentence. Correct me if I am wrong. We don't normally use the progressive form "stopping" to describe an action in progress suddenly coming to an abrupt rest. Would it be a reasonable analysis to say " The car was almost coming to a stop when it hit another car?"

AlpheccaStars · Answer

grammarfreakWould it be a reasonable analysis to say " The car was almost coming to a stop when it hit another car?"

That is definitely not an improvement.

The investigators know that the car was stopping because the wheels locked up and the tires made long skid marks on the pavement. They can determine the speed that the car was going when the brakes were applied by the length of skid marks, condition of the tires, weather conditions, and the surface conditions of the road. The distance that a car travels after the brakes are applied is called the "stopping distance."

http://www.mathmotivation.com/science/forensics-car-accident.html

CalifJim · Answer

LaboriousTransitional Event Verbs, such as land, fall, arrive, die, leave, lose, stop, etc.,

= Vendler's "achievement verbs".

Laborious'event verbs' denoting transition into a new state are used with the progressive to indicate the approach to a transition, rather than the transition itself

A person has not actually died yet at any point during "He is dying". He is only approaching the situation described by "He (has) died".
A plane has not actually landed yet at any point during "The plane is landing". It is only approaching the situation described by "It (has) landed".
I have not actually left yet at any point during "I am leaving". I am only approaching the situation described by "I (have) left".
The runner has not actually won the race at any point during "He is winning (the race)". He is only approaching the situation described by "He (has) won".

Compare:

A mysterious lady was wandering about in the park.

At every point during this activity, the lady was wandering about (in the park). Hence, the meaning of the -ing form is different for "wander (about)" than for "win" (and the others above). "was wandering (about)" is more like "was doing the activity of wandering (about)"; "was winning" is more like "showed all the signs of being about to win". Conversely, "was wandering" does not mean "showed signs of being about to wander", and "was winning" does not mean "was doing the activity of winning".

Laboriousin the plural these verbs can refer to a multiplicity of events. The guests were arriving, for example, can either mean 1) a single arrival, (or more likely) 2) a set of arrivals, in progress. In the latter case, the notion of 'approach to a transition' applies differently. It signifies progression towards the final state when all guests will have arrived.

1) All guests as a group arrive at the same time. One event.

The group had not actually arrived at any point during "The guests were arriving". They were only approaching the situation (together, as a group) described by "They (have) arrived". (This explanation is the same as those given above.)

2) Each guest arrives separately. It takes some time before all have arrived. Because the arrival of each guest is a separate event, there are many events, i.e., a multiplicity of events.

Even if one or two or a few guests have arrived, we are still waiting for others. Even though "They (have) arrived" applies to a few, the process of arriving is still continuing when applied to the entire guest list.

CJ

Laborious · Answer

Wow! Great explanations, I must say! Honestly, If I hadn't found the site and the members who help us by replying, I'd have never been able to improve my English and it would be very difficult, for me at least, to understand these things this much easily. Thanks CJ, and thanks Alphecca Stars, for your help...

Sometimes, I try to reply to the questions of other members who are, just like me, here to improve their English, but the teachers, here, are so helpful that they come and correct me If I'm wrong about something. I wish this site to be in existence forever.

Q: Transitional Event Verbs

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