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"Read Aloud! Hilarious and Entertaining!" - Yong Lee Lian, Principal, Cambridge for Life, Selangor.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

 McDonald's I'm lovin' it

Next time when you're spending a blissfully intimate moment with your beloved, you might want to coo into her soft tofu ears: "I'm loving you." I'm not sure how she would react, but what I do know is that McDonald's tagline- I'm lovin' it- sure has a way of getting our attention.

"Love" is a stative verb which cannot be expressed in the present continuous tense. Just as we do not say "He's believing what you've just told him," it's also wrong to say "I'm loving you" or "I'm loving it". If you want to express your love, you should instead say "I love you, darling" from the depths of your heart. And your beloved should be left in no doubt that you mean what you say. Now, try saying "I'm lovin' you, darling." Does it sound the same? I doubt it. I think it lacks the simple directness of the declarative expression of love in "I love you."

But then McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" tagline is different. It may be wrong in grammar, but it's deliberate. Now, let's change McDonald's tagline to the grammatically correct stative verb form:  "I love it." Say it a few times and you'll know what I mean: It's bland, and it induces a dryness in your mouth. On the other hand, the present continuous form of "I'm lovin' it" possesses the quality of freshness and motion that gives the expression life and makes it more dynamic. That's why the present continuous tense (-ing) form is referred to as dynamic and not static.

Call it creative licence!

Stative verbs usually refer to a state or condition which is quite static or unchanging. They do not refer to an action and so are not used in the present continuous tense form. Thus, we should say "I hate this TV show"  instead of  "I'm hating this TV show." Now, say which verbs are used correctly in the following sentences:

a. The girls are seeming tired.
b. He is believing what you told her.
c. I'm seeing him this afternoon.
d. I'm having a brand new car.
e. I'm liking swimming very much.
f. Jeff is loving his new job as a junior reporter.
g. They're preferring a new coach for their football club.
h. We're having a party next weekend.
i. She's remembering what happened at the club meeting yesterday.
j.  I'm wanting to apply for the new job vacancy Penang.
k. I'm seeing what it means.
l.  Kate's thinking that coffee is good for her health.
m. This vegetable soup is tasting delicious.
n. He's needing another loan to pay off his gambling debts.
o. We're remembering the people we met on our trek across the jungle.
p. They're thinking about their next holiday in February.
q. She's seeing three clowns coming down the road.
r. I'm knowing how to solve this difficult math problem.
s. The children are hearing what we're discussing.
t. He's liking the bowl of fish noodle.
u. Don't you agree that they are being silly?
v. The crate is containing 12 bottles.
w. Kamil is knowing the answer to every question.
x. I'm smelling the soup to see if it's good.
y. She's smelling the new lotion that she has just bought.
z. I've been meaning to ask you out, but I just can't find the time.

This article is available at: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2012/7/10/lifefocus/11572022&sec=lifefocus

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