Stative passives are verb-like words that follow “be” in sentences and function as adjectives. See the examples below:
Stative Passives
| He is hungry. | (Adjective) |
| He is interested | (Stative passive) |
| His leg is broken | (Stative passive) |
Stative passives indicate a status or condition which may exist over a period of time. In contrast, action verbs often indicate a change from one status to another.
| We got married in 1998. We are married now. | (Action: We changed from “single” to “married.”) Status: Our current condition is “married.”) |
| Jack broke the window. | (Action: Indicates what happened at a given moment.) |
| The window is broken. | (Status: Indicates the condition of the window.) |
Note how the action/status contrast works with other verbs:
| Jared fell asleep. | (Action: Change in status from “awake” to “asleep”). |
| Jared is asleep. | (Status: Indicates Jared’s current condition.) |
| Joan became sick. | (Action: Joan changed from “healthy” to “sick.”) |
| Joan is sick. | (Status: Joan’s present condition.) |
| The building caught fire. | (Action: Indicates the point when the fire started.) |
| The building is on fire now. | (Status: Indicates the condition of the building.) |
| The doctor came in. | (Action) |
| The doctor is in. | (Status) |
Stative passives are often used with prepositional expressions.
See Grammar: Preposition Collocations with “Be”.
She is interested in photography.
Brad was worried about his mother.
Carmen is terrified of snakes.
Everyone was caught up in the excitement.
Some adjectives also fit in the same pattern:
Karen is fond of chocolates.
I’m crazy about sports cars.
You’re full of baloney.
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