- When we say "The glass was broken" it means when we looked at it, it had been broken before, that is, it shows a state that could be spread over a period of time.
But when we say "it got broken" it shows a happening at a particular point of time. - But that is not true for the verb "bear". When it changes to passive form, it won't be a state, but a happening. When I say "I was born in 1990" it dosn't show a state, but a happening at a point of time. So I wouldn't need to say "I got born in 1990."
What's the difference between these 2 verbs "1.break" and "2. bear"?
These have the same structure above, but different meaning in passive forms using be verbs. One shows a state and the other shows a happening.
Best Answer
This is a case of English treating "broken" like an adjective. Actually, "broken" can be used either to describe a specific event (in which case broken is a verb), or to describe a state.
By comparison, "born" cannot be used as an adjective because it is by definition a specific instant in time (at least as it is used in English). So, when you say "he was born", there is no possibility that you mean to say "he has been born for a long time"--that doesn't mean anything in English. It is assumed that "he was born" is a past tense perfect verb and not an adjective used with the past tense imperfect of the verb "to be".
Note: The phrase "it got broken" is not correct in written English, although you might see it used colloquially.