Hello, fellas. Our session today is about stative verbs.
(More: https://englishtips4u.com/2014/04/13/engclass-stative-or-non-continuous-verb/ and https://englishtips4u.com/2016/07/29/grammartrivia-non-continuous-verbs/)
Stative verbs are verbs which have stative meanings. They are used to describe states: existing conditions or situations. They are usually not used in progressive tenses.
Verbs having stative meanings:
- Mental state: know, realize, undertand, recognize, believe, feel, suppose, thinks*, imagine*, doubt*, remember*, forget, want*, need, desire, mean*
- Emotional state: love, like, appreciate, please, prefer, hate, dislike, fear, envy, mind, care
- Possession: possess, have*, own, belong
- Sense perceptions: taste*, smell*, hear, feel*, see*
- Other existing states: seem, look*, appear*, sound, resemble, look like, cost*, owe, weigh*, equal, be*, exist, matter, consist of, contain, include
Note: Verbs with an asterisk (*) have stative and progressive meanings and uses.
Examples:
1) The food tastes delicious.
In the sentence above, tastes describes a state that exists.
2) The chef is tasting the sauce in his kitchen.
This example describes the action of the chef putting something in his mouth and actively tasting its flavor.
Sources:
Betty Schrampfer Azar, Understanding and Using English Grammar: Third Edition
Compiled and written @fathrahman for @EnglishTips4U on Sunday, December 8, 2019
