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
Hello.
I've got a question for the grammaticality of the following sentence:
Recently, people are depending on the internet.
I know that 'people are dependent on the internet.' is more commonly used and depend is a stative verb.
However, for showing some sort of progress and changes I think it's okay to say 'people are depending on the internet.'
I want to know that whether this sentence is grammatically correct or not and two sentences using each 'dependent' or 'depending' have the same meaning.
It would be a great help if you leave a comment on this matter.
Thank you.
Hi Stella_J,
Yes, it is grammatical. As you said, it shows some sort of change or non-permanent action. I think the sentences with "depending" and "dependent" mean pretty much the same thing, apart from the probably unimportant difference that "people are dependent" describes how the people are, whereas "people are depending" describes what people do.
I would also say that "Recently" is normally used with the present perfect: Recently, people have been depending on the internet. / Recently, people have become more dependent on the internet. A word like "Currently" or "At present" would match the present simple better.
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hello all, I have got a question regarding the second grammar test.
Look the sentence 3. 'Are you making bread? It ______ amazing.
Regarding the description above it must be *amazing because the first part is made in the present continuous and the second logically must be as well in present continuous because we use it in action (ongoing conversation).
The answer is *smells and I can't explain why exactly smells, because regarding the description mentioned it must be ing.
Could you please tell why smells is used instead of It’s smelling?
or there is a mistake in the test?
Thank you!
Hello Serberio,
'smells' is the correct answer for the first question in the second task. 'It smells amazing' refers to our perception of the nice smell, not to an activity that we're doing.
An example of smelling something as an activity would be, for example, going into a perfume shop and actively smelling different perfumes.
Although there isn't much context in Task 2, 'Are you making bread?' suggests we've just walked into someone's home, for example, and smell bread there, not that we are going around actively smelling things.
Does that make sense?
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
I've noticed a usage of 'love' (which I think originated in the U.S.) that's increasingly used in the U.K. fashion industry, e.g. "I'm loving your new dress". From previous explanations, this is said to be related to feelings about something changing ("I hated my desk but increasingly I'm loving it") but that clearly isn't the underlying meaning here, I think it's more the striking/jarring effect, first started with the cola drink advert "I'm loving it". I can't imagine the creators of the advert intended it to mean "your enjoyment of this drink will fade away". What do you think is going on?
Hello RodM,
There are so many different situations in which 'I'm loving it' is used now that I doubt a single explanation can cover them all. I think you're certainly right in thinking that, at least in many cases, as non-standard usage, it has a jarring effect. While the McDonald's adverts may no longer have this effect so much -- they've been around for years now -- in other situations I believe it still can, at least to some degree.
The continuous aspect can communicate something changing or developing, and in my opinion that's still at the root of this usage of this grammar in such circumstances. I'm not an expert on marketing, but to your point about our enjoyment fading away, it seems to me that adverts like this one (which is not to say all adverts) tend to focus on the new and not consider issues beyond that.
You might enjoy reading other people's thoughts on this matter. There's a forum on in the StackExchange and the Grammar Girl has also analysed it, for example.
Hope this helps!
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hi. "We will be loving each other for the rest of our life." is a correct expression?
I know "love" is a stative verb, but sometimes I notice that love is used in the progressive tense.
Hello KongKong,
I can't think of a situation when that would be appropriate off the top of my head.
It's great that you've noticed exceptions to the general rule of not using 'love' (as a stative verb) in a continuous form, but I suspect in those situations the action wasn't continuing for the rest of a person's life.
If you can provide a specific example of a use of 'love' in the continuous and explain the context a little, we can try to help you understand it.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
There´s the slogan McDonald uses for adverts: "I´m loving it."
I have always taken that to be an example of incorrect use in order to attract attention (like in Kwickie Mart), but maybe someone has a more satisfying explanation.
Hello Bernhard,
Yes, that's a great example. In general, it's true that it's not correct to use stative verbs in continuous forms, but in fact that are some exceptions.
One possible meaning of a continuous form is to speak about something new, changing or developing. For example, imagine you recently were given a new desk at work. At first you didn't like it, but now you appreciate it more and more. If someone asked you about your new desk, you could say 'I'm liking it more and more'. The continuous form shows that you regard your feeling as something developing and changing still. We also often say things like 'What are you thinking?' not to mean to this moment, but to refer to the fact that a person has been spending time thinking about something and that their thoughts are still developing.
Now I'm not sure if that's what McDonald's had in mind when they created that slogan. As you say, it does attract attention -- it's also been used in some popular songs -- and one has to note that the slogan has been around for many, many years now, so it'd be difficult to argue against it as effective advertising.
Hope that helps.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team