State verbs are verbs that do not refer to an action per se, but rather to emotions, feelings, thoughts and opinions. What you should keep in mind when you want to use one of these verbs is that they behave grammatically differently from the others. In today’s article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about state verbs and how you should use them.
Difference between state and action verbs
As their name indicates, action verbs describe things that are carried out, i.e. actions:
- I play piano. I play the piano.
- She is singing a song. She is singing a song.
State verbs, on the other hand, do not refer to actions per se, but to emotions or thoughts that the subject of the sentence has:
- I have two pianos. I have two pianos.
- She believes in you. She believes in you.
What state verbs are there
There is a list of all the status verbs that exist, although our recommendation is that you learn the most important ones in each category. In addition, as is often the case in the English language, there are exceptions in which the same verb can be considered both an action verb and a state verb, so you should be aware of the context:
- Verbs of status and possession: have, be, belong, own, possess, etc.
- Verbs of perception and sense: see, smell, feel, taste, hear, etc.
- Verbs of thought and opinion: remember, know, believe, understand, forget, seem, agree, etc.
- Verbs of likes or preferences: like, hate, love, dislike, want, hope, prefer, etc.
All of these verbs cannot be used in the continuous tenses, so if we come across a verb that is in this tense, we will know that it is not a state verb.
How are state verbs used?
As we have just told you, state verbs can never be used continuously, except in certain situations:
Temporary or atypical situations:
- He is rude. He is rude.
- He is being rude. He is being rude (at that precise moment).
Voluntary perceptions:
- The food tastes good. The food tastes good.
- I am tasting the food. I am tasting the food (voluntarily).
There are some commonly used verbs that can be found in both groups, as we will see below:
Think: only used continuously when we refer to “considering” or “planning” something.
- I think that you’re right. I think you are right.
- She’s thinking of buying a car. She is thinking about buying a car.
Feel: when we talk about the state in which we feel we can use the continuous or progressive form of the verb.
- I feel happy for my friend. I am happy for my friend.
- I am feeling happy. I feel happy.
See: We can use this verb in a continuous form when we refer to “visiting” or “getting to know someone”.
- I see you later. See you later.
- I am seeing Roger at 7 o’clock. I will be visiting Roger at 7.
Hear: we only use the continuous form of hear when we speak in a judicial sense.
- She is hearing her case now. He is celebrating his case visit.
Have: the verb to have can be used in a continuous form when we do not refer to possess.
- I’m having a shower. I’m taking a shower.
