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Stative Verbs

Stative verbs are verbs that describe 'states of being' and not 'actions or activities'. Generally stative verbs are not used in the progressive form (verb + ing) as this usually changes the meaning.

For example: 'This wine tastes good' describes an effect on the senses, while 'John is tasting the wine' describes the activity of tasting.

Uses of Stative Verbs

Stative verbs describe such things as:

Feelings - love, hate;
Thinking and believing - think, suppose;
Wants and preferences - need, want, prefer;
Perceptions and the senses - look, smell;
Possession - have*, belong, own;
Being or seeming - be*, appear, seem.

Examples: He hates washing the car. We have a house in the mountains. We need to buy a new car.

Common Stative Verbs

admire adore appear astonish 
be* believe belong 
concern consist contain 
deserve desire despise detest dislike doubt 
envy exist 
fit forget 
guess 
hate 
have* hear 
imagine impress include involve 
keep know 
lack last like love 
matter mean 
owe own 
please possess prefer 
reach realise recognise remember resemble 
satisfy see seem smell sound stop suppose surprise survive suspect 
understand 
want wish

* It is common to see these verbs in the 'ing' form when talking about behaviour (be) or experiences (have) in this period - however, when used in the 'ing' form these verbs describe actions or activities and so are not stative!

Stative Verbs Quiz

INSTRUCTIONS

After reading the text answer each question by clicking one box only once. DO NOT CHANGE YOUR ANSWER otherwise you will get unrealistic results!

Question 1:

What is the stative verb that means there is not enough of something, or that it does not exist at all?

A. lack
B. suspect
C. seem

Question 2:

The stative verb that describes the feeling that you wish you had the same thing or quality as someone else ?

A. want
B. wish
C. envy

Question 3:

Which of the following describes that someone should have something because of what they have done?

A. reach
B. satisfy
C. deserve

Question 4:

Which of the following means that you have studied and understand a subject?

A. possess
B. know
C. mean

Question 5:

Which of the following phrases is correct?

A. I survives on my own
B. He owe a lot of money
C. She belongs to the Golf Club

Question 6:

Which of the following phrases is incorrect?

A. The computers seems to be working okay
B. The computers seem to be working okay
C. The computer seems to be working okay

Question 7:

Which of the following is similar in meaning to include?

A. involve
B. belong
C. contain

Question 8:

Which of the following is similar meaning to "I understand"?

A. I suspect
B. I see
C. I imagine

Question 9:

Which of the following indicates that something is not important?

A. It doesn't exist
B. It doesn't impress
C. It doesn't matter

Question 10:

Which of the following means to continue to have in possession?

A. belong
B. keep
C. owe

Question 11:

Which of the following is the incorrect past form?

A. I envied the success he had
B. I saw the problem immediately
C. I remembered him from the last meeting
D. I satisfyed her requests
E. I realised I knew her

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