What is Stative Verb?

Definition of Stative Verb

We can define stative verb as “A
stative verb is one that describes a state of being. Stative verbs are static
and remain unchanged throughout their entire duration.”

What is Stative Verb

Stative verbs are used to express a
state rather than an action in the sentence. They express thoughts,
relationships, states of being, emotions, senses, and measurements. Generally,
we do not use stative verbs with progressive (continuous) tenses. They are used
with the simple tenses. Such as:

• He feels tired
  today. He has


• Do you know him?
  He is a
  popular writer.


• My client recognized me
  when he saw at Red Fort.


• I promise my
  wife for a wonderful gift.

List of Stative
Verbs

Following is the list of stative
verbs which you can use to make sentence with stative verbs:

We can generally categorize stative
verbs into four parts, such as:

• Possession: have,
  belong, want, own


• Sense: hear,
  seem, smell, see


• Emotion: need,
  love, want, hate


• Thought: know,
  remember, believe

Following are some more stative
verbs:

Adore, agree, appear, appreciate, be,
belong to, concern, consist of, contain, cost, deny, depend on, deserve,
detest, disagree, dislike, doubt, equal, feel, hate, imagine, include, involve,
lack, like, loathe, look, matter, mean, measure, mind, owe, possess, promise,
realize, recognize, resemble, satisfy, sound, suppose, surprise, taste, think,
understand, want, weigh, wish, suspect, forget, prefer, etc.

Examples of
Stative Verbs/Use of Stative Verbs in the Sentence

Following are the examples showing
the use of stative verbs:

• I see my
  teacher in the bus but he can’t see me.


• My friend is seeing We
  are together for a month.


• I like to hear


• I have a
  car.


• I am having dinner
  with my boss.

Some of the verbs work as both,
stative and dynamic verbs, such as: be, think, have, see, taste, etc.

For example:

‘Be’ is a stative verb however when
used in continuous it becomes dynamic, such as:

• I am happy. (This sentence means as part of
  personality. It is example of stative)


• I am being happy stupid. (Meaning: being happy
  only for now, not usually. It is example of dynamic)

When ‘think’ is used to show only
opinion, it becomes stative; whereas, when it is used as truth, it becomes
dynamic.

• I think that ice-cream is tasty. (stative)


• What are you thinking about? I am thinking
  about my exam. (dynamic)

When ‘have’ is used to show
possession, it becomes stative and when it is used to show action, it becomes
dynamic.

• I have a bike. (stative)


• I am having a bath. (dynamic)

When ‘taste’ is used to show certain
taste, it becomes stative, and when it is used to show action of tasting, it
becomes dynamic.

• This fruit tastes sweet.


• My husband is tasting the halwa.

Rules/Tips to be
Followed while using Stative Verb

Following are some rules and tips you
should remember while using stative verbs in the sentence:

Stative verbs are verbs that are
generally connected with the thinking and opinions. Such as:

• I don’t know what to do.


• Do you agree with her?


• I appreciate her, do you?

They connect with feelings and
emotions, such as:

• I like this breakfast. Who cooked it?


• What do you want to read?


• I love my new friends.

The word ‘enjoy’ is an emotion verb
however we can use it in the continuous tense:

• He is enjoying the dance.

Verbs describing the senses (like
‘smell’, ‘see’, ‘taste’, ‘hear’, and ‘feel’) are not used in continuous forms
and generally used with ‘can’.

• I can smell the smoke.


• I can see everything.

They are used to describe things in
the sentence and not actions. Such as:

• He is reading the news.


• I am going for morning walk.

Stative Verb
Exercises for you

Stative verb exercises given below
will help you in analyzing your knowledge about stative verb. Just go through
all the details given above about the stative verb and check your skill by
doing following exercises for stative verb. We have used stative verbs in the
following sentences; you need to check your skill by identifying stative verbs
in each sentence:

1. Do you know the place he lives?


2. He has breakfast at right time every day.


3. I feel good about my performance.


4. He resembles her grandfather.


5. Do you think they will pass all the exams?


6. They really appreciate my performance.


7. I think my father was satisfied with my exam
   result.


8. Can you smell the flower?


9. I still owe a lot of money on my student
   loans. (deserve, owe, involve)


10. I have more books than you.

Answers: 1 – know, 2 – has, 3 – feel, 4 – resembles, 5 – think, 6
– appreciate, 7 – satisfied, 8 – smell, 9 – owe, 10 – have

Related Page:

What Are Verbs? Types of Verbs ACTION VERB Auxiliary Verb  Lexical Verb Dynamic Verb Stative Verb Finite Verb Nonfinite Verb

Regular Verb Irregular Verb Transitive Verb Intransitive Verb Linking verbs Modal Verb Causative verb Phrasal verbs