This is an Allers English Podcast episode 2220.
Like or liking.
Your grammar questions answered.
Welcome to the All-Ears English Podcast
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Are you feeling stuck with your English?
We'll show you how to become
fearless and fluent by focusing on connection,
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Aubrey Carter, the Isle Twizz,
and Lindsay McMahon, the English Adventure.
Coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.
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Did your textbooks teach you state of verbs the wrong way?
Today we'll let you in on a little known grammar secret
about how to break the rules and bring state of verbs to life.
[♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
An official message from Medicare.
A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs.
Maybe you can save too.
With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero
and my out-of-pocket costs are low.
Who should apply?
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or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year.
Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out.
Go to ssa.gov slash extra help.
Paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Hello, Aubrey. How's it going today?
I'm great. Lindsay. How are you?
Excellent. Very happy to be here on the mic with you.
We're recording on a Friday. All is good.
So Aubrey, question for you.
Ready? Yes. All right. Let's hear it.
Is there anything that you are just really loving right now?
Oh, I'm loving the weather here in Arizona.
It has been so lovely.
Warm enough to sit out by the pool a little bit, sometimes in the afternoon,
which is so fun.
What about you, Lindsay? Anything you're loving lately?
I was going to say the same thing yesterday.
I went for a walk to get a coffee and then I just sat outside of my porch
and I was just loving the sunshine.
And it did feel like summer.
It was almost too warm to be in jeans.
So it was like, okay, a little break from work.
Just sitting in the sun. Fantastic.
So of these warm spring days, wherever you are guys,
I hope you have warm spring days or maybe warm fall days, right?
I know seasons are flipped sometimes.
I'm strange, but right now, oh, it's so beautiful in Arizona.
And I'm getting the heat that's coming.
So I'm really trying to soak up every moment.
Yeah, you're really in that window where you can really enjoy it.
But soon.
I feel like coming.
So I wonder if our listeners were curious because I asked you,
is there anything you're really loving right now,
but loving is supposed to be a state of verb.
And I thought we weren't supposed to use the I&G form for state of verb.
Exactly.
We are breaking the rules here, right?
In the US, and I know this happens in other English-speaking countries as well.
Sometimes we break the rules.
You may have been taught, right?
No present progressive with state of verbs, but we do.
We do sometimes.
And we get a lot of questions from students about this.
Like, I hear natives do this.
When can I do it?
I don't know because you can't do it with every state of verb.
Right.
So that's so confusing.
It's only certain ones.
And loving something is very, is one of them, right?
So I'm going to go ahead and read the question from our listener.
We love getting your questions, guys.
Send your questions into support at allersenglish.com.
We'll get that question routed in the right direction.
And here comes the question, Aubrey.
So hi, Lindsay Michelle and Aubrey.
I'm Tracy from Taiwan and I'm an elementary school teacher.
I've listened to your show for almost two years.
And I've really learned a lot.
That's amazing, Aubrey.
Two years.
I love it.
Yes.
Hello, Tracy.
I love it.
Hello, Tracy.
There we go.
I'm teaching the grammar of like in my class recently.
Both like to V or like to verb and like verb plus i and g are correct.
But it seems a little different between these two.
Also, I'm wondering if it can be used in present
continuous tense.
For example, I am liking something.
It would be nice if you discuss this topic on the show.
Wish you all the best.
Tracy.
Fantastic question.
Tracy, thank you.
I know.
I love this question.
And I really have solidarity here with Tracy because I spoke French.
I thought French in college at a very high level.
But there were still a few things like this.
I was like, I really need to ask a native speaker about this.
I'm not actually sure what to teach my students.
I see what the textbooks telling me.
Right.
I know what I've heard in France and Belgium all over the world.
But I'm not actually really sure.
Like you just sort of have that hesitation.
Even if you're a teacher, right?
textbooks don't always, as we know, that's why all those English exists.
textbooks don't always reflect the reality.
Right.
So we're here to fill in the gap.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So we're going to focus on the second part of Tracy's question here today.
If like can be used in the present continuous tense.
And in the future, we will hit that first part
because when it's like like to blank, like verb,
ing, this depends on the verb.
It's different for every verb.
Unfortunately, this is tricky.
So we'll get into that another time.
Make sure to hit follow.
So you don't miss these amazing grammar episodes.
But today we're going to share about the state of verb.
These state of verbs of feelings.
Like love, hate, detest.
It's tricky.
I'm excited to get into this.
Right.
So this is part one of a three part series here
on all those English.
Is that right, Aubrey?
Yes, exactly.
Because there are three different types of state of verbs.
The first group is what we're talking about today.
Feelings and emotions like want.
The second group is thoughts and opinions like no.
Remember, prefer.
And then the third is senses and perceptions
like feel, seem, taste.
So today we're answering Tracy's question
by talking about the first group feelings and emotions.
And follow for parts two and three coming up
later this summer on all those English.
Yeah, make sure you catch all three of the episodes
in this series.
Wait for them.
Hit follow so you don't miss them guys.
All right, Aubrey.
But there is another episode our listeners could go to
in the past to kind of get caught up on state of verbs.
Right.
Yes.
I sure remember this.
Lindsay, you and I recorded an amazing episode.
It was 1384 here on all those English.
The state of state of verbs don't get flagged
as a lower level speaker.
Yeah.
And we really dove into the grammar there.
How do you know whether to use present
present simple, present progressive?
It's such a good deep dive into that.
So be sure to go back and check out that episode.
We're going to give a couple little highlights here.
But if you've ever been confused by this,
and I know a lot of our listeners have,
you should definitely go back and listen to that episode.
Yeah.
So we're going to do a little primer right now
on that episode.
Aubrey to catch your listeners up then.
Yes.
Is that OK?
So let's get into that now.
So what do we need to know?
What is the most high level thing?
Very, yes, right.
Overview that the difference is about time.
The mental condition lasts longer than just right now.
So if, for example, it's correct to use the state of verb
notice and say, I notice you're running more lately.
Well done.
OK.
This is a state, a mental state.
Whereas it would be incorrect to say,
I am noticing you're running more lately.
Because it's this mental state that is not about time,
it's not something that can happen over a certain amount of time,
we would not use present progressive.
Now you've learned this in classes.
You've learned this in textbooks.
But what you haven't learned is that sometimes with state
of verbs we do use them in the present progressive,
if there is something about time, if it is something
that you're sort of feeling in this moment for a short time,
but maybe not always, suddenly it's different.
And we can use that present progressive,
sometimes called present continuous tense.
Right.
Because do you actually say I'm noticing, Aubrey?
I mean, do you break that rule?
You're saying?
I don't.
I may have heard.
I feel like maybe I've heard that every now and then.
But that does feel more like wrong to me, right?
Whereas I'm liking or I'm loving.
Absolutely.
We say that all the time.
I'm liking the context.
Yeah.
I think I break that rule.
You do.
OK.
But there's some of the ones we're going to go in today.
You really don't hear it broken.
Yeah.
There are some of these state of verbs
that it appeals really wrong if we hear it in present progressive.
For example, prefer.
Right.
If you say, I am preferring definitely.
It's a right now.
Right.
No, that's just not something that we talk about
with time, like right now, but maybe not tomorrow.
Preference doesn't work that way.
Right.
Because it's kind of the ongoing thing.
Is that what we're saying?
It's always your preference.
It's a state of mind, a general state about yourself,
not something you can say is different right now
that might change tomorrow.
OK.
All right.
So what else do we need to know?
What's next?
Yes.
So many state of verbs can be used in present progressive.
Right?
Like we said, if you're sharing that something is more momentary
and not a constant state, you're making it
more of an action, right?
It sort of becomes an action verb.
Right.
Because it's something you're actively feeling right now.
But OK.
Always.
So this will be a little bit tricky as you sort of maybe
have to stop and think like, is this right?
But you're going to start.
You'll just hear it.
And now you know when natives are breaking that rule
in air quotes, this is just the way we speak.
And it's very accepted.
It's not considered a grammar mistake.
It becomes it's a more of a trendy thing language pattern
that we're noticing.
Right. So it's an ongoing action.
So for example, like, right?
I like LaZonya.
And you can also say, I'm really liking Italian food lately.
Exactly.
So the first one is that state.
I like LaZonya, this sort of general state.
The second one is more of an action
that's a little more momentary.
Like this week, I am really liking Italian food lately.
Right?
That's all I want to eat.
Yes.
Yes.
So this first group, including like,
we're going to talk about the ones that can be both.
You can use these in present progressive.
And then we'll talk about those verbs that can't be both.
Is there any kind of food lately
that you're really liking?
Really getting into?
Yes.
Absolutely.
Indian food.
There's a place that opens just around the corner
that is to die for.
It is so delicious.
And I took my daughter.
She's only 10.
She hadn't eaten it before.
I had made it at home a little bit.
But I hadn't taken her to an Indian restaurant.
She loved it.
And it was even a little spicy and she was down.
She's OK with spicy food.
It made me so happy because I like it so much.
I'm excited to take her to Indian restaurants.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
Indian food is incredibly flavorful.
Delicious.
It's unbelievable.
Yeah, I just went for Indian on Saturday night.
And yeah, it was good.
This place is especially interesting
because the owners are from India
and they opened a breakfast place, like a brunch place.
Oh, cool.
But then it was, you know, that place closes at two.
And so then at night, starting at like four, it opens.
And it's an Indian restaurant.
So it's where it doesn't have that vibe.
The look of like the average Indian restaurant.
But I don't care because the food is so delicious.
I'm telling everyone I know about it.
Yeah.
Oh, dear.
That's so delicious.
That's so good.
So liking.
So very common.
So the way you can see this in the modern world,
what native speakers are, they're using it a lot
with commenting on kinds of food, right?
Trends in food, trends in what lifestyle design.
Right.
TV, the movies, podcasts.
Yeah.
And really liking the allers English podcast lately.
Right.
And something that maybe you didn't always like
or you didn't know about and you've discovered it
and you're really into it now.
This is the way we say it.
Where are you sure you could say, I like the allers English
podcast, but then you're talking about this sort of general state
in general.
This is so native and natural to almost make it like a momentary
action.
And it kind of adds more meaning.
It adds the meaning of I'm discovering this thing.
Right.
There's other meanings like interwoven in here.
I'm discovering.
I'm exploring.
I'm working through something.
I, you know, at levels of discovery in a sense.
Yeah.
It really means like I'm really into this.
I'm really into this right now.
And if we just say I like, if I say I like lasagna, that does not mean I'm really into
it right now.
Means like in general, I've always liked it maybe.
Yeah.
So I need this other phrase to be able to just change the verb tense, present progressive.
Oh, I'm really liking lasagna lately.
Yeah.
I really think that I like lasagna is what our listeners learn in their textbooks.
Yeah.
So much more we can do when we do make that state of verb and I and G or so much more
meaning you could pack into it.
That's actually way more interesting.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Okay.
Okay.
So the next one, love, we do this even more.
I do, right?
I might say I love stand up comedy.
Right.
Or I would say like I am really loving us, you know, this stand up comedy show.
I might be at a show with a friend.
I am really loving this right now.
I do this more than liking.
What about you, Lindsay?
Probably.
Yeah.
I think it feels easier and it's like it's time to say exaggerate maybe.
Right.
I think love is just more extreme and so you're more likely to use the extreme version.
I think I love stand up comedy.
Again, it goes more to identity, right?
To identity.
I'm the kind of person that loves stand up comedy.
You're saying something about your identity.
Whereas I'm really loving this stand up comedy show.
It's about like new things.
Now this one's interesting because are you at the show right now?
I'm imagining I would say this at the show and what's interesting is I might be a person
who doesn't like stand up comedy usually.
Maybe I've never been to a show before.
And I'm like, I am really loving this stand up comedy show.
I says nothing about my general state.
I might usually dislike it.
But right now I'm really loving this show.
Yeah.
But I could also say like I am loving stand up comedy lately.
These days I've been to a few shows and I'm really into it right now.
Yeah, maybe there's like a traveling tour or something of people coming to your town
and you're attending all the events.
I'm really loving stand up comedy these days.
What about you checking out all the venues, right?
Absolutely.
It's just, oh my gosh, I'm so excited for you guys to use this all the time.
And so we get all these questions where it's just confusion.
Why do I hear native speakers doing this?
It's not the grammar I was taught and now you're realizing, oh, it actually does have
a function.
Well, and it has a function for connection too.
I think both when we use the love or the like, it's about
identity.
Do you like this?
Do you not like this?
Do you like chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream?
It's about identity, right?
Your likes and dislikes versus trends, things you're discovering.
What you're getting into, what you're excited about.
That says a lot for connections.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
You want to talk with people about this about the things you love and like.
There's so many good feelings involved.
So then we have these good feelings with the people we're talking about.
That is building really good connection.
Yeah, 100%.
Okay.
There is some news that we have to let our listeners know about.
There are certain ones that just, you can't do this.
Exactly.
And this is what is tricky.
You cannot take every state of verb.
This is why you've learned that in the textbook or from a teacher.
Don't use present progressive with state of verbs because a lot of them, you can't.
We don't.
Like for example, and these are all synonyms of like or love, adore, care about, cherish.
We wouldn't say, I am really adoring Italian food right now.
No.
We just because it's a chunk.
It's more idiomatic.
We don't use it with these other synonyms.
Yeah.
I think just the words like and love are just so accessible.
They're so common.
That's why it's become acceptable to do that to make those I and G's.
And I think it's just easier for a teacher to tell you.
Don't use I and G with state of verbs, right?
Just kind of this rule across the board and then you'll never make any mistakes.
But then that kind of keeps you from, you see, born out, communicating like a native
one.
We want that for you.
Yeah.
For sure.
So adore, care about.
And to that same format, right?
I'm really cherishing time with my kids these days.
We don't say that.
Like, yeah.
It's not necessarily grammatically wrong.
If someone says that, it might sound strange to you, but like, yeah, it's not really a big
deal.
This is very much about spoken English, you know, when you go to like, write an email
or if you do something that's more formal, right?
A lot, we wouldn't really say these because we wouldn't write these because it's all about
speaking.
Right.
And just like, what do we want to say about that?
Yeah.
So we also don't do this with dislike, you know, at least I wouldn't hear this.
I wouldn't say like, I am really disliking Mexican food these days.
I don't know.
I am really just like, we might do it with hate, though.
I was thinking about this.
And I do feel like I see someone say like, I am hating this traffic because it's like,
this is sort of momentary.
Right now, I feel this passion.
And normally we would just say, I hate traffic.
But if you're talking about something that is happening to you more momentarily right
now, then would say hating.
Yeah.
I think be disliking.
I am really disliking this traffic.
That seems strange, maybe just because it's longer and harder to say.
I think that there's a rawness.
There's an enthusiasm that is present.
There's wrapped up in this eye when we take a state of verb and we make it I.N.G.
I'm liking it.
I'm really liking it.
I'm really loving this standup coming show.
You know, I'm really just hating this traffic right now.
I have to get out of it.
There's clearly a level of emotion.
So maybe that's the difference.
I think you're right.
That's exactly right.
And then it feels strange if you're exaggerating this way and trying to share this level of
emotion and then take a softer word like dislike.
Yeah, I just say I'm really disliking.
It just feels disjointed.
It's also I think you've really hit the nail on the head there, Lindsay.
And I think dislike is just a very objective word.
It's just it's objective.
No one dislikes traffic.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're human beings.
We feel things and especially on a Friday afternoon, you're trying to get home.
You are hating this traffic, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Oh, I love this.
So we do this with other state of verbs.
We're talking about these ones about feelings and emotions today.
But definitely follow for part two and part three with the other types of state of verbs.
We're going to do the same thing.
Share with you which ones you should be doing this with and which ones you can't.
It's so tricky.
All right.
Aubrey, we got to get into a quick roleplay.
But we're going to take a little break.
Come back.
Do a roleplay.
Would the episode yeah?
Yeah.
All right.
An official message from Medicare.
A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs.
Maybe you can save too.
With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero and my out of pocket costs are low.
Who should apply?
Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000
a year.
Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out.
Go to ssa.gov slash extra help.
Kate Ford by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Okay, Aubrey.
Let's hop right into a roleplay.
Are you ready?
Yeah, let's do it.
Let's do it.
Here we go.
So we are.
What are we doing here?
We're at the grocery store.
Grocery store.
Grocery store.
That's hard because the shin grocery.
And we are shopping for a barbecue.
Fun.
Cool.
A fun, very summary, very timely here.
Here we go.
I am really loving this weather, aren't you?
Yes.
So ready for summer.
Do you like pool parties?
Or do you prefer a lake day?
I'm really liking a lake day lately.
We take paddle boards out on the water.
What about you?
I love a lake day, but I'm liking pool parties these days.
Just chilling in someone's backyard.
So fun.
Nice.
Nice.
Oh, we used a bunch of them here and you can see how they come up a lot in conversations
when you're sharing about things you like or not like.
Oh, yeah, it's all about energy and enthusiasm, emotion this episode today.
So I said, I'm really loving this weather, aren't you?
So that means the weather is trending in a good way, right?
It's dress.
Yeah, it's your reaction to a trend, something that's happening.
Yeah.
And you certainly could say like we did it at the top of that episode, oh, I'm loving
the weather today or if it's a longer, I'm loving the weather lately.
Either way, like it's more momentary, right?
It's short term.
Right.
Because you see, even within the context of the day, you're still moving through the day.
Exactly.
Who knows what will happen later?
Right.
And then I asked you, do you like pool parties or do you prefer a lake day?
Yeah.
And because you're asking about my general opinions, that general state, this is where we would
not use the I and G, just do you like pool parties in general?
Or do you prefer a lake day?
You certainly could say, are you liking pool parties lately?
But it seems strange because you're asking about my preferences in general.
Yes.
General preferences, identity, this or that, right?
This or that?
Yeah, exactly.
And then you said, now we're going back to trendiness, things that are happening.
Your feelings are changing.
You're starting to like something more.
So I'm really liking a lake day lately.
This is a trend, right?
Exactly.
And I certainly could say, I really like late day, but because I'm talking about when
I use the word lately or recently or these days, these trunks, that's when you want
present progressive.
Those are signpost words, right?
For that present progressive.
I'm really liking a lake day lately.
Right.
I think that's the key there too, is the signpost word, the lately recently, these days,
this summer.
You could totally say, oh, I love a good lake day, right?
I like a good lake day.
And that's what you said next, right?
I love a lake day, but I'm liking pool parties these days.
And there's another signpost these days.
They're not obligatory, right?
You could say, but I'm liking pool parties, or I could say, you know, I'm liking
a lake day.
And it's sort of unstated that these days or the recently, because that grammar implies
that that it's more momentary.
Yeah.
I feel like it would feel a little bit incomplete though to just not have any signpost
there.
I'm really liking a lake day, liking, I'm liking, I'm really liking a lake day.
What about you?
It does feel, I do feel like I need to say either something recently or these days.
Or yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
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