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Verbs or predicates can be categorized in terms of whether they describe states, activities or events.

State items such as querer, odiar, pertenecer, and estar triste, refer to situations that no inherent boundaries in time. In addition, states are things over which a subject has no control, i.e. one cannot deliberately love, hate, belong, be sad etc. States can thus be said to be non-agentive.

Activities, as described by items such as correr, hablar, leer novelas, beber vino etc., are like states in that they have no temporal boundaries, but they are agentive, as is illustrated by the fact that one can deliberately run, speak, read novels or drink wine.

Events imply a beginning and an end-point in time. Some events are extended in time and these often involve the execution of a certain task: escribir un libro, cantar una canción, preparar una tortilla. Events of this kind are sometimes called acomplishments. Other events, such as those described by olvidarse, llegar, reconocer and ganar la carrera, are punctual, in that they are instantaneous. Events of this kind are sometimes called achievements.

States and activities exhibit what is called the subinterval property. This means that if a state holds or an activity takes place during an interval of time – call this I – the state or activity necessariy holds/takes place during any subinterval of I (note that these subintervals can be either point-like or extended). For example, if Pedro was happy for ten minutes then he was happy also for nine, eight, seven etc. minutes. Events, in contrast, do not exhibit the subinterval property. Thus if Pedro cooked a meal in twenty minutes, it does not follow that he cooked a meal in nineteen, eighteen etc. minutes.