Does "I like my new car" express a permanent or temporary state?
We all know that
Simple Present is normally used for "more permanent state" & Present Continuous for "more temporary state" (Source)
She lives with her parents.
We use the present simple to talk about permanent facts and general truths. In this example we don’t expect the situation to change.
She’s living with her parents.
We use the present continuous to talk about something temporary. In this example we do expect the situation to change.
Now, some verbs such as "like, love, need, want..." are not used in "continuous form" (Source)
But this page says some natives say
I’m liking my new car.
I’m missing you.
This sentence expresses the idea that it’s something happening around now and it’s not a permanent state. The excitement might soon wear off and I might stop enjoying the experience soon.
Similarly, when we say ‘I’m missing you.’, it shows how intense this emotion is right now.
It is considered "Informal" or "Wrong"
So, if I said it grammatically correctly "I like my new car", would people think that that sentence expressed a permanent or temporary state?
Should we add "now" to make it more temporary as in
"I am in New York now" is more temporary
"I am in New York" is more permanent
So, "I like my new car now", but it sounds a bit awkward
Solution 1:
So, if I said it grammatically correctly "I like my new car", would people think that that sentence expressed a permanent or temporary state?
For stative verbs such as like, the simple present is a neutral form, not implying anything about permanence or temporariness.
If you want to emphasize that your feeling is likely to be temporary, you can preface your statement with "right now".
If you want to emphasize that your feeling is likely to be permanent, I think your best bet is to add something that ties your feeling to something about it: "I like my new car much better than my old one", or "I like my new car; its all-wheel drive is exactly what I need on snowy days", or . . . you get the idea.