past simple vs past continuous (Interrupted event)?

Question

What's wrong with this sentence ?

Last night ,I was being a little sleepy when my friends called me !

to describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action, e.g. "I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang."

No one says I was being (a little) sleepy, because "[a]djectival predicates can be cast in the progressive if they're volitional (sense 2)"—as per this great answer by snailplane—which be a little sleepy isn't. — , Sep 14 '17 at 13:58
I was a little sleepy when my friends called me ! ... is it correct grammatically !! — Towfik Alrazihi, Sep 14 '17 at 14:41
Yes. By the way, people usually terminate sentences with periods, not exclamation marks, unless they're excited or shouting. Further, don't put a space before a punctuation mark: How are you ? should be How are you? — , Sep 14 '17 at 14:53

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 16 '17 at 13:37

2

sleepy isn't used with being. You would say

Last night, I was sleepy when my friends called me.

More details, this great answer stative vs dynamic

edited Sep 16 '17 at 13:37

Towfik Alrazihi

answered Sep 15 '17 at 00:15

Peter_Browning

1 Answers1