A stative verb is one which asserts that one of its arguments has a particular property (possibly in relation to its other arguments). Statives differ from other aspectual classes of verbs in that they are static; they have no duration and no distinguished endpoint. Verbs which are not stative are often called dynamic verbs. (Wikipedia)
There are plenty of articles on stative verbs on the Internet. I want to summarise a few articles.
At first, take a look at the video from engVid.com on stative verbs.
Original: English Grammar – Stative Verbs
This video by Ronnie is extremely enjoyable! I love it. Do you?
Secondly, check out the following video which I found on the Internet.
Original: Stative Verbs
To be honest, the second video is extremely boring! But anyway the article is very useful. That’s why I recommend that you look at the original post.
Overview
Some English verbs, which we call state, non-continuous, or stative verbs, aren’t normally used in continuous tenses (like the present continuous, or the future continuous). The most common ones:
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like love hate want need prefer |
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know realise suppose mean understand believe remember |
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belong fit contain consist seem look (=seem) |
Download PDF with the list of stative verbs and examples.
A verb which isn’t stative is called a dynamic verb, and is usually an action.
Some verbs can be either stative or dynamic depending on the situation.
To Be
be is usually a stative verb, but when it is used in the continuous it means ‘behaving’ or ‘acting’
- you are stupid = it’s part of your personality
- you are being stupid = only now, not usually
To Think
think (stative) = have an opinion
- I think that coffee is great
think (dynamic) = consider, have in my head
- what are you thinking about? I’m thinking about my next holiday
To Have
have (stative) = own
- I have a car
have (dynamic) = part of an expression
- I’m having a party / a picnic / a bath / a good time / a break
To See
see (stative) = see with your eyes / understand
- I see what you mean
- I see her now, she’s just coming along the road
see (dynamic) = meet / have a relationship with
- I’ve been seeing my boyfriend for three years
- I’m seeing Robert tomorrow
To Taste
taste (stative) = has a certain taste
- This soup tastes great
- The coffee tastes really bitter
taste (dynamic) = the action of tasting
- The chef is tasting the soup
(‘taste’ is the same as other similar verbs such as ‘smell’)
I hope this lesson on stative verbs is very useful. Thank you for visiting. Good luck with your English!
English Tek
