State verbs: what are they and how are they used?

[bitheerani319]

Stative verbs are those that do not refer to an action as such, but are more related to opinions and thoughts, emotions and characteristics. In English they are called " stative verbs " , and it is important to know taiwan phone number list to distinguish them because they have certain grammatical behaviors that can be very confusing. We tell you how to find out if a verb is a stative verb and how to use them.

States and actions
State verbs: How are they used?
State Verbs: Test Yourself!


States and actions
Some verbs clearly fall into one of the two categories. Action verbs describe things that are done:

I play with the ball. — I play with the ball.
I am eating chips. — I am eating chips.
While state verbs refer to things that describe the subject, emotions or thoughts.

I believe in fairies. — I believe in fairies.
I love music. — I love music.
I am tall. — I am tall.
Downloadable guide: The most common mistakes made by Spaniards and how to avoid them

But it is not enough to learn lists of verbs, because there are some that can belong to both categories depending on the context:

I think of him every day. — I think of him every day.
I think that is beautiful. — I think that is beautiful.
In this example, the first “ think ” is an action verb, as it refers to the practice of mentally evoking someone. However, the second is a state verb, as it expresses an opinion .

How can we be sure which verbs are stative and which are not? It is usually easy to find out from the context of their meaning, but if we are not sure, we can look at their grammatical peculiarities.



State verbs: How are they used?
The most important thing about stative verbs is that they cannot be used in continuous form . Although this is sometimes done for marketing reasons, they are ungrammatical constructions . So, if we come across a verb in continuous form, we immediately know that it is not a stative verb . Let's look at the following examples:

The list includes some interesting people : state verb, describes the contents of the list.
I am including him in the next performance : action verb, there is a subject that actively includes someone.
You are mean : state verb, describes a characteristic of the person.
You are being mean : action verb, describes a person's momentary behavior.
The food smells funny : stative verb, describes a characteristic of the food.
He is smelling the food : action verb, describes the action of smelling in the sense of "sniffing."
The table measures 56 centimeters : state verb, describes a feature of the table.
I am measuring the table : action verb, describes the action of checking the measurements of something.