Look at these examples to see how stative verbs are used.
I think that's a good idea.
I love this song!
That coffee smells good.
Do you have a pen?
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Stative verbs describe a state rather than an action. They aren't usually used in the present continuous form.
I don't know the answer.
I'm not knowing the answer.
She really likes you.She's really liking you.
He seems happy at the moment.He's seeming happy at the moment.
Stative verbs often relate to:
- thoughts and opinions: agree, believe, doubt, guess, imagine, know, mean, recognise, remember, suspect, think, understand
- feelings and emotions: dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, want, wish
- senses and perceptions: appear, be, feel, hear, look, see, seem, smell, taste
- possession and measurement: belong, have, measure, own, possess, weigh.
Verbs that are sometimes stative
A number of verbs can refer to states or actions, depending on the context.
I think it's a good idea.
Wait a moment! I'm thinking.
The first sentence expresses an opinion. It is a mental state, so we use present simple. In the second example the speaker is actively processing thoughts about something. It is an action in progress, so we use present continuous.
Some other examples are:
have
I have an old car. (state – possession)
I'm having a quick break. (action – having a break is an activity)
see
Do you see any problems with that? (state – opinion)
We're seeing Tadanari tomorrow afternoon. (action – we're meeting him)
be
He's so interesting! (state – his permanent quality)
He's being very unhelpful. (action – he is temporarily behaving this way)
taste
This coffee tastes delicious. (state – our perception of the coffee)
Look! The chef is tasting the soup. (action – tasting the soup is an activity)
Other verbs like this include: agree, appear, doubt, feel, guess, hear, imagine, look, measure, remember, smell, weigh, wish.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hi Rsb,
Complete is an adjective or a verb (see the links to the Cambridge Dictionary). The adverb form is completely.
I'm afraid I don't really understand what the first sentence means. Does it mean 'see the person's whole body'? If so, if would be more usual to say Can I see all of you?.
I hope that helps!
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Rsb,
Sentence 3 is correct. Sentence 2 has full, which is an adjective, but you could change it to the adverb fully.
Sentence 1 is a bit different because you all means 'every person' or 'everybody in a group'.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Rsb,
That's right! But Can I see all of you? has both meanings (i.e., it can refer to a single person or many people).
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello SonuKumar,
I would not categorise these verbs as stative. They can all be used with progressive aspect, for example, and can also be used as imperatives.
I would caution against seeing stative and dynamic as fixed, binary categories. It is a useful way to think about verbs at times but there are many verbs which do not fit neartly into one or other group, or which can be found in either depending on the context.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello SonuKumar,
I'm afraid we can't provide support for this sort of query. Please check with another more specialised source.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
No, I'm afraid it isn't. 'fall' is an intransitive verb in most cases. Perhaps you mean 'Someone tripped me'?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Yes, you can say 'you made me fall'. This has a similar (though more general) meaning to the transitive use of the verb 'trip'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
No, it is not. 'fall' is an intransitive verb (see the Verb patterns section) and so doesn't take an object.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
I'm afraid we can't keep providing support for this sort of query. Please check with another more specialised source.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Rsb,
It's an adjective in this sentence, because it follows the verb be. It's an adverb if it follows another verb (e.g. I don't want to arrive late).
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Genaib,
It's true that 'making bread' happens at the same time as 'it smells amazing', but these are separate things (one is making, one is smell(ing)), so the tense we choose depends on the properties of the verb (i.e. 'making bread' is an action, but 'to smell amazing' is a state). That's why the second one can't be in the present continuous. :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi BriggitaAngie123,
Actually, mild and wild are adjectives, not verbs :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
It depends on the context, but assuming that you are remarking on how much this person has changed (in terms of personality, attitude, etc.), the first one is correct.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Rsb,
Yes, it is! The use of release as an intransitive verb for movies, games, songs and so on is quite a new thing, and it's becoming quite common.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
I'm afraid none of these sentences is correct. If you look up 'break down' in the dictionary, I think it should become clear, but let us know if you have a more specific question.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Die is not a stative verb, but it is intransitive. Any good dictionary entry should indicate if a verb is transitive or intransitive.
Love is transitive and stative in your example.
I don't know if there is an ergative stative verb. We're happy to provide help with explanations but I don't have a list of all ergative verbs to cross-check against stative verbs.
You can find some more information on ergative verbs here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/ergative-verbs
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Rsb,
Die is not a stative verb as it can be used with continuous aspect: He's dying, so you should speak to him soon.
Conceptually, dying can be a process rather than a single momentary event.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Look has more than one meaning. When it is used to describe a person's physical appearance it is a stative verb, as your example shows. When it is used to mean something you do with your eyes it is a dynamic verb.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Yes, that is possible. We can use the continuous form here to show that something is temporary rather than generally true. For example, you might say this if a person has dressed in a particular way for a special occasion. You would not use it for a general description of how someone normally looks.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Rsb,
When a state can be perceived as having continuity and progress over time then the progressive form is possible. There are quite a few examples of this:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Action verbs can have subjects that are inanimate. I'm afraid I don't know of any explanation of this anywhere, but it's quite straightforward -- there is no such limitation.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Holiday wishes are not usually complete sentences. Typically, they are reduced forms from which different words have been omitted.
I'd understand 'wishing' in the first one as a reduction of 'I wish' or 'With this card, I wish'. You could say 'will be' instead of 'to be'.
Your other example sounds like the title of an article. If it were a complete sentence, it would need 'are' (as you suggest). The same is true of the last sentence -- the word 'is' is missing (if it's supposed to be a complete sentence).
Please remember that we're happy to help with isolated examples from other texts if they're directly related to the grammar or content of a page, but we don't have the resources to explain every example that you may find.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team