Words abound

  • Hermione Golightly

    Senior Member
    British English
    It's a stative verb, I'd say, because of the meaning, which describes a 'state of being', a situation, and not actions.

    1. [*][no object] to occur or exist in great amount or numbers: a stream in which trout abound.
      [*][~ + in + object] to be rich or well supplied: The region abounds in coal.
      (WR dictionary)
    Dynamic verbs ("action verbs") usually describe actions we can take, or things that happen; stative verbs usually refer to a state or condition which is not changing or likely to change. Stative verbs cannot normally be used in the continuous (BE + ING) forms.
    By the way, in the OP sentence there would not be any verb if 'abound' were not one. We rarely use it in speech.:)
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