State Verbs

Action and State Verbs
by Prof. Raúl Martínez Castellanos, CELE - UNAM


Action Verbs and the Continuous Aspect

Most verbs describe actions performed or received by the subject. Such actions may: a) extend over a certain period of time, b) be perceived to be in progress at a certain moment, or even c) be momentarily interrupted and continued at a later time. Such concepts are expressedusing the continuous aspect of the verbs involved (also known as progressive). Although this idea seems complex at first, it basically means that these verbs can be used in their present participle (or -ing) form.

Examples:
I’m working on it right now. ( Action is in progress at the moment of speaking.
She was singing for hours last night. ( Duration (length) of the action is emphasised.They’ll be playing tennis this time tomorrow. ( Action is in progress at a certain point in time.
We’ve been reading a very interesting book at school. ( The action was interrupted to be continued.
She had been painting her room before you called. ( An extended action is interrupted.

So, when we want to express that a particular action should be considered in progress at a certain point in time,whether such time be the present, the past or the future, we use the continuous form of its verb.

To form the Present Continuous tense, we combine the present simple form of the verb “be” (am, is, are, as it corresponds to the subject) with the present participle of the verb:

Examples:
I’m working on it right now. ( Action is in progress at the moment of speaking.
Please tell us about the bookyou’re writing. ( An ongoing activity is currently suspended.
He’s meeting Jane at eight o’clock this evening. ( A fixed plan scheduled for the near future.
She’s doing a summer course in Canada. ( Activity is temporary and expected to conclude.
It’s raining cats and dogs here. ( A temporary action is in progress now.
We’re looking for a bigger house to move into. ( A temporary activity ispresently in progress.
They’re fixing the plumbing at the weekend. ( A fixed plan scheduled for the near future.

State Verbs

However, some verbs do not describe an action, but a modification of some kind in the internal or external reality of the subject. In other words, such verbs describe a change of “state” in the subject or its environment. A particular characteristic of these verbs isthat they’re never or rarely used in their continuous (-ing) forms.

A common example of this is the verb want. We always use this verb to express a state of mental desire, and not an action, even when we refer to the very same moment of speaking:

I want to have a coffee now. NOT: I’m wanting to have a coffee now.
She doesn’t want to see him now. NOT: She isn’t wanting to see him now.

Stateverbs tend to be classified into categories. Below is a grouped list of typical state verbs:

Mental and Emotional States

admire
adore
believe
detest
dislike
doubt
envy
forget
guess
hate
imagine
know
like
love
prefer
realize
recognize
remember
suppose
suspect
understand
want
wish

Examples:
He dislikes salespeople. NOT: He is disliking salespeople.
She preferred tomeet people at her office. NOT: She was preferring to meet people at her office.
They will recognize my academic degrees. NOT: They will be recognizing my academic degrees.

Sense

appear
hear
see
seem
smell
sound
taste

Examples
I saw him when the train arrived. NOT I was seeing him when the train arrived.
This juice tastes strange. NOT This juice is tasting strange.
Did you hearthat? NOT Were you hearing that?

Communication

agree
astonish
deny
disagree
impress
mean
please
promise
satisfy
surprise

Examples
You astonish me! NOT You are astonishing me!
I'm afraid I disagree with you. NOT I'm afraid I am disagreeing with you.
I meant to tell him yesterday afternoon. NOT I was meaning to tell him yesterday afternoon.

Other States

be
belong...