68086
I've been reading linguistics books lately and they've gotten me reexamining
things I've learned in Japanese textbooks for foreign learners.

Susumu Kuno's book _The Structure of the Japanese Language_ states that you
can use "stativity" to figure out how to interpret the non-past tense form of
a verb.

Example: 猫がいる (stative) = (There) IS a cat.

Example 2: 店に行く (non-stative) = (I) WILL go to the store.

He states that stative verbs take the が particle under most circumstances.
This makes it sound like all intransitive verbs would be stative.

Therefore: ドアが閉まる (stative?) = The door IS shut. (Not the door will shut)

**Am I correct in thinking this?**

Textbooks describe intransitive verbs with ている as describing a state that's
already resulted and is continuing. Transitive verbs in ている form describe an
ongoing action.

Therefore:

ドアを閉めている = I'm shutting the door.

ドアが閉まっている = The door is shut (and staying that way).

**Is this a correct interpretation? How would one say that the door is
shutting by itself then (like a progressive action)?
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2019-05-08T21:08:37.337
68084
2019-05-09T04:21:02.650
2019-05-09T02:08:56.173
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question
verbs subsidiary-verbs transitivity linguistics
How to interpret intransitives in non-past tense
いる is usually used with が for the same reason English "there is" is usually
followed by "a(n)" rather than "the"; ～がいる and "there is a(n) ～" are both used
to [introduce something into the
discourse](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/22/5010).

But "a(n)" can be used with tons of other verbs. Did your book really say you
can distinguish the type of a verb by looking at if it can be used with が? I
doubt it. Just because you can say ドアが閉まる in _some_ circumstances doesn't mean
閉まる is a stative verb. 閉まる is an instant state-change verb (aka punctual
verb). See: [When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the
continuation of state?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3122/5010)

As for the last half of your question, I believe you've gotten something
wrong. There are many intransitive verbs that describe an ongoing action in
teiru-form (e.g., 寝ている) and there are many transitive verbs that describe the
continuation of state in teiru form (e.g., 送っている). The intransitive/transitive
distinction and the stative/punctual/action distinction are two different
things. Please do not mix them.

  * stative intransitive verb: いる, ある
  * stative transitive verb: 要する
  * action intransitive verb: 寝る
  * action transitive verb: 食べる, 読む
  * instant state change intransitive verb: 死ぬ
  * instant state change transitive verb: 送る, 始める
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2019-05-09T04:21:02.650
68086
2019-05-09T04:21:02.650
5010
68084
answer