neutral. A sentence like The door is closed is force-dynamically neutral, because there are no forces opposing each other. The sentence The door cannot open, on the other hand, exhibits a force dynamic pattern: apparently the door has some tendency toward opening, but there is some other force preventing it from being opened (e.g., it may be jammed). A basic feature of a force-dynamic expression is the presence of two force-exerting elements. Languages make a distinction between these two forces based on their roles. The force entity that is in focus is called the agonist and the force entity opposing it is the Antagonist (see a, figure 1). In the example, the door is the agonist and the force preventing the door from being opened is the Antagonist. Force entities have an intrinsic force tendency, either toward action or toward rest. For the agonist, this tendency is marked with an arrowhead (action) or with a large dot (rest) (see b, figure 1). Since the antagonist by definition has an opposing tendency, it need not be marked. In the example, the door has a tendency toward action. A third relevant factor is the balance between the two forces. The forces are out of balance by definition; if the two forces are equally strong, the situation is not interesting from a force-dynamic point of view. One force is therefore stronger or weaker than the other. A stronger force is marked with a plus sign, a weaker force with a minus sign (c, figure 1). In the example, the Antagonist is stronger, since it actually holds back the door. The outcome of the Force-Dynamic scenario depends on both the intrinsic tendency and the balance between the forces. The result is represented by a line beneath Agonist and Antagonist. The line has an arrowhead if the outcome is action and a large dot if the outcome is rest (d, figure 1). In the example, the door stays closed; the Antagonist succeeds in preventing it from being opened. The sentence 'The door cannot open' can be Force-Dynamically represented by the diagram at the top of this page. Using these basic concepts, several generalizations can be made. The force dynamic situations in which the Agonist is stronger are expressed in sentences like ‘X happened despite Y’, while situations in which the Antagonist is stronger are expressed in the form of ‘X happened because of Y’. In