WHAT ARE STATIVE VERBS AND HOW CAN WE USE THEM CORRECTLY?

(Here’s an Audiovisual Lecture on Stative Verbs In English And How To Use Them Correctly: https://youtu.be/Z6ZH84e5HeQ)

Verbs are of central importance to effective communication because they are the words that talk about our actions, or the thoughts, beliefs and feelings that motivate our actions. Verbs enable us to create and use sentences as they constitute the mandatory element of every sentence. This implies that a sentence is incomplete without a verb. Therefore, choosing the right verb and using it correctly is essential to accurate communication. In this article, we are going to learn an important class of verbs called stative verbs. What are stative verbs and how can we use them correctly in English speech and writing?

1. WHAT ARE STATIVE VERBS?

Stative verbs are verbs that express a state or condition, e.g. believe, love, like, know, understand, have, hate, prefer, etc. Stative verbs do not express a physical action as dynamic verbs do, but they express thoughts, beliefs and feelings that give impetus to physical actions.

2. HOW DO STATIVE VERBS DIFFER FROM OTHER VERBS?

Generally, verbs are used to talk about the action or state of a given noun or subject. Verbs are classified into different types according to how they are used in English sentences. For example, verbs can be classified into main verbs (lexical verbs) and auxiliary verbs (helping verbs), action verbs and being verbs, dynamic verbs and stative verbs, and so forth.

Let’s examine the differences between the dynamic verbs and the stative verbs. Dynamic verbs indicate an actual action performed by the subject (eg. Messi scores a goal in every match). Other examples of action verbs are eat, play, write, sing, dance, buy, sell, build, travel, etc. As can be seen in these examples, dynamic verbs can be called action verbs, as they are normally used to describe the actions of a subject or things that happen. On the other hand, stative verbs indicate the subject’s state of mind, such as love, hate, like, prefer, own, hear, think, taste, smell, understand, mind, recognize, etc. Stative verbs, as shown in these examples, merely indicate a state or condition. They can be used to indicate feelings (e.g. love, hate, want, etc.), senses (e.g. hear, see, smell, taste, etc.), and so forth.

3. WHAT ARE THE USES OF STATIVE VERBS?

Primarily, a stative verb is  used to describe a state of being or situation. Stative verbs do not show physical actions or processes. They can be used as follows:

1. To express thoughts and opinions: think, know, agree, believe, doubt, guess, imagine, mean, recognize, remember, suspect, understand, suppose, realize, forget.

2. To express feelings and emotions: love, hate, like, dislike, prefer, want, wish.

3. To refer to senses and perceptions: see, hear, taste, smell, appear, be, feel, look, seem, taste, sound, touch.

4. To indicate ownership: have, own, belong

5. To indicate measurement, cost: measure, weigh, cost, consist.

4. HOW DO WE USE STATIVE VERBS CORRECTLY?

Stative verbs are used in present tenses but NOT in continuous tenses. Examples:

Love: Okon loves his wife: NOT Okon is loving his wife.

Like: Rose likes tea: NOT Rose is liking tea.

Want: Jack wants a car: NOT Jack is wanting a car.

Need: They need our help: NOT They are needing our help.

Hate: I hate lies: NOT I am hating lies.

SOME VERBS CAN BE USED AS STATIVE AND DYNAMIC VERBS

Some of the verbs that can function as both stative and dynamic verbs are as follows:

1. SEE: I can see the stars (stative); Dr. Sam is seeing a patient now.
2. FEEL: I feel that Susan is a good girl (stative); I am feeling dizzy (dynamic).
3. TASTE: The stew tastes sour (stative); Aunty Bose is tasting the stew (dynamic).
4. HAVE: I have a new phone (stative); We’re having a fantastic weekend here (dynamic).
5. SMELL: The abattoir smells bad (stative); Mary is smelling the perfume to see if it’s good (dynamic).
6. APPEAR: The baby appears to be weak (stative); Dr. Henry is appearing on a TV show this night.

For a detailed audiovisual explanation of stative verbs and how to use them correctly, watch the following video lecture: https://youtu.be/Z6ZH84e5HeQ

EBOOKS FOR YOUR FURTHER STUDIES:

1. Good Success in English: A Study Package or Good Success in English: A Study Package for Effective English Learning
2. Good Success English Handbook

About the Author

Benjamin Abugu

Benjamin Abugu is a university graduate with a flair for content writing. He is an English teacher with over twelve years experience, a published author of many books (both paperback and eBook editions), a blogger and Youtuber