Stative verbs are verbs which have stative meetings. In other words, they describe states, conditions, or situations that exist.
Stative verbs are almost never used in progressive tenses.
Stative verbs are almost never used in progressive tenses.
Be careful! Not all stative verbs are 100% stative. Many verbs are stative (or progressive) depending on the definition.
He is smelling the flower. - is not stative
He smells like flowers - is stative
He is smelling the flower is not stative because it is an action. It requires putting the flower close to the nose and checking its odor.
He smells like flowers is stative because that is his condition or state. There is no action involved. It is only a description.
Mental state
- believe
- desire
- doubt*
- feel
- forget*
- imagine*
- know
- mean*
- need
- recognize
- remember*
- suppose
- think*
- understand
- want*
Emotional state
- appreciate
- amaze
- astonish
- care
- dislike
- envy
- fear
- hate
- like
- love
- mind
- please
- prefer
- surprise
Possession
- belong
- have*
- own
- possess
Senses
- feel*
- hear
- see*
- smell*
- taste*
Causitive verbs
Irregular verb List
Irregular verb list with Spanish translation
Phrasal verb List
Regular verbs: Pronunciation in past and past participle
Regular verb list with Spanish translation
Regular verb: spelling
Stative verbs
Transitive & Intransitive verbs
Verb tenses
Other
- appear*
- be*
- consist of
- contain
- cost*
- equal
- exist
- include*
- look*
- look like*
- matter
- owe
- resemble
- seem
- sound
- weigh*
Verbs with * have both stative and progressive definitions.
This page is one of PLS's English grammar pages for people who want to learn or improve their English grammar skills.
