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State stative verbs and how to use them

What will I learn from the English lesson state verbs

During this lesson you will learn what stative verbs are and how to use them.

What are state verbs?

State verbs are also called stative verbs which are verbs that are used to describe a state rather than an action.

When using English grammar a "stative verb" means that the verb describes a state rather than an action. David wants some ice-cream

When you are describing states, you must never use the continuous ('-ing') form.

Example whey not to use continuous ('-ing') form.

I think we should go to England for our family holiday this year.
Sorry, what did you say? I was thinking about my holiday.

The first sentence is an opinion. CORRECT

The second sentence is an action. INCORRECT.

State verbs can go into to 4 groups:

Emotion: love, hate, want, need

Possession: have, own, want, belong

Sense: see, hear, smell, seem

Thought: know, believe, remember

Examples of how to use stative verbs and how not to.

STATIVE VERB	CORRECT USAGE	INCORRECT USAGE (never use the continuous ('-ing') form)
Like	I like you.	I am liking you.
Love	I love you.	I am loving you.
Hate	I hate you.	I am hating you
Appear	It appears to be sunny.	It is appearing to be sunny.
Believe	I believe in Father Christmas.	I am believing in Father Christmas.
Fit	This shirt fits me.	This shirt is fitting me.
Sound	This love song sounds good.	This love song is sounding good.
Remember	I remember everything you said.	I am remembering everything you said.

List of stative verbs

like	know	belong
love	realise	fit
hate	suppose	contain
want	mean	consist
need	understand	seem
prefer	believe	depend
agree	remember	matter
mind	recognise	see
own	appear	look (=seem)
sound	taste	smell
hear	astonish	deny
disagree	please	impress
satisfy	promise	surprise
doubt	think (=have an opinion)	feel (=have an opinion)
wish	imagine	concern
dislike	be	have
deserve	involve	include
lack	measure (=have length etc)	possess
owe	weigh (=have weight)

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