What is the difference caused by using “I got stuck”, “I get stuck”, “I was stuck”, “I'm stuck"?
Could anyone please advise which is more natural and when should one use over the other with sentences?
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The same difference between "I am tired" and "I was tired", "I get tired" and "I got tired". It's a question of tense and meaning, which you should be able to look up.– Mari-Lou ACommented Jun 12, 2020 at 10:22
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2 Answers
"I'm stuck" (or "I am stuck") is talking about the present. At this specific moment, as you speak, you are trapped, perhaps calling for help.
"I get stuck" is called the "habitual" tense; you're talking about something that has happened in the past and will continue to happen on some sort of regular basis. For example, "I get stuck in the mud every time it rains" means in the past it has happened, and you are predicting that it will continue to happen whenever it rains.
The other two are talking about the past and only the past, but in different forms, and it's a little subtle. "I was stuck" is talking about a past condition, while "I got stuck" is talking about a past event.
"I got stuck" implies you're speaking about a specific moment in the past when this occurred. In a longer form, you might say, "As I was crawling through the tunnel, the rocks shifted, and I got stuck." Or you might say, "I got stuck on the subway because it was so crowded that I couldn't get out at my stop."
"I was stuck" is not talking about a specific moment, but an ongoing condition or situation. "I was stuck in the mud for two hours" -- not the terrible moment of becoming stuck, but the lasting, ongoing effect of that.
English is not strict about which way to phrase this. In most cases, you can use either word, and your audience will understand what you mean. For example, I might say, "I got stuck in a conversation with James." But I might also say "I was stuck in a conversation with James." Both make sense, and both mean approximately the same thing. The difference is a subtle shading of meaning, where the first emphasizes the moment of becoming trapped in a conversation I don't want to be in, while the second emphasizes the extended, ongoing nature of the conversation.
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So, word "stuck" uses in definition adjective. Right? Because in common form building of sentences, I - noun, am (to be) - auxiliary verb, stuck - verb in second form. So in conclusion I could to say what this sentences formated in Present Simple but in Passive Voice, but I see that it is not. Can you explain my misunderstanding?– MaximProCommented Jul 21, 2021 at 13:57
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I'm not sure what you're asking, but I think you're having some confusion between 'am' used as an auxiliary verb to indicate a tense change in another verb -- for example, "I am sticking", where 'sticking' is the verb and 'am' indicates it's an ongoing action (the present continuous tense) -- and 'am' used as a simple verb. In this case, it's a simple verb, and 'stuck' is as you said, an attributive verb, a verb acting as an adjective. "I am stuck" works the same as "I am green" or "I am tired". It's just a simple noun-verb-adjective structure. Does that help? Commented Jul 21, 2021 at 14:52
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If you're asking why this is not considered passive voice, that isn't really relevant in this sentence. The passive voice is when you have both a subject and object of the verb, and you remove the subject or move it after the object. "My father wrecked the car" versus "The car got wrecked". In the case of "I am stuck", there is no object. Even if I added one, as in "I am stuck to the floor" (floor is the object), then it wouldn't really make sense to put that in passive voice. "The floor is stuck to" is grammatically valid, but nonsensical. Commented Jul 21, 2021 at 14:58
- I was stuck = past event
- I'm stuck = present fact
- I get stuck = habitual event
- I got stuck = past event that happened at a defined time.
