Fuzzy Verb Phrases with "Be"

Fuzzy Verb Phrases with "Be"

The following information is taken, with permission, from Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan Garner. Copyright 2003. Published by Oxford University Press.

Verb phrases containing "be" verbs are often merely roundabout ways of saying something better said with a simple verb. Thus "be supportive of" for "support" is verbose.

The following circumlocutory uses of "be" verbs are common in stuffy writing. The simple verb (in parentheses) is usually better:

be abusive of (abuse) be applicable to (apply to) be benefited by (benefit from) be derived from (derive from) be desirous of (desire or want) be determinative of (determine) be in agreement (agree) be in attendance (attend) be indicative of (indicate) be in error (err)

be in existence (exist) be influential on (influence) be in possession of (possess) be in receipt of (have received) be in violation of (violate) be operative (operate) be productive of (produce) be promotive of (promote) be supportive of (support)

Many such wordy constructions are more naturally phrased in the present-tense singular: "is able to" ("can"), "is authorized to" ("may"), "is binding upon" ("binds"), "is empowered to" ("may"), "is unable to" ("cannot").

Stative and Dynamic Forms

Martha Kolln* suggests that we think of the difference between stative and dynamic in terms of “willed” and “nonwilled” qualities. Consider the difference between a so-called dynamic adjective (or subject complement) and a stative adjective (or subject complement): “I am silly” OR “I am being silly” versus “I am tall.” I have chosen to be silly; I have no choice about being tall. Thus “Tall” is said to be a stative (or an “inert”) quality, and we cannot say “I am being tall”; “silly,” on the other hand, is dynamic so we can use progressive verb forms in conjunction with that quality.

Two plus two equals four. Equals is inert, stative, and cannot take the progressive; there is no choice, no volition in the matter. (We would not say, “Two plus two is equaling four.”) In the same way, nouns and pronouns can be said to exhibit willed and unwilled characteristics. Thus, “She is being a good worker” (because she chooses to be so), but we would say “She is (not is being) an Olympic athlete” (because once she becomes an athlete she no longer “wills it”). For further definition of this interesting distinction