grammar - Is "I'm being angry" ungrammatical?


I am arguing with friends about this question.


According to what I learned in school, there are some adjectives that cannot be used in the progressive form. I think this one is ungrammatical because angry describes an emotion, which is a temporary state on its own. Therefore, it is redundant to use it in the progressive form.


Am I correct?



Answer



Yes, “am being ADJECTIVE” sounds quite odd to a native speaker. It is not impossible, but it is very uncommon and seldom what you want.


You would virtually never say “I am being ready” or “I am being happy” instead of “I am ready” or “I am happy”.


If you really, really want a progressive aspect, then it works better with verbs like getting or becoming, depending on the adjective involved and whether these is already an existing idiom.



  • I am becoming happy.

  • I’m getting happy/happier.

  • I’m getting ready.

  • I’m getting tired.


Sometimes an adverb is enough:



  • I am still happy.


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