Stative Verbs — Definition and Examples List
What are stative verbs?
Stative verbs, also known as state-of-being or state verbs, describe the state or feeling of the subject in a sentence rather than their physical action. Stative verbs involve the senses, emotions, condition, possession, and thought.
Stative verbs can be in multiple verb tenses (like past and present tense) but are non-continuous, meaning they cannot progress through time.
Stative verbs contrast with dynamic verbs (active or action verbs), which describe an action performed by a person or thing.
Active verbs are often used in the continuous tense or progressive form (e.g., I am reading), but it is usually grammatically incorrect to use stative verbs this way.
Types of stative verbs
The main types of stative verbs are sense, emotion, state/quality, possession, and cognition.
Sense verbs indicate either physical or mental sensations observed by one of the five senses.
Can you see their house from here?
Emotion verbs reveal an emotional or mental state.
He hates when it rains all day.
State or quality verbs describe the condition of something.
The car lacks trunk space.
Possession verbs refer to ownership.
Ben owns two snowboards – one for fun and one for competition.
Cognition verbs denote thought.
Nancy believes she can make the basketball team.
Stative verbs list
The following chart contains a list of stative verb examples categorized by type:
| Sense | Emotion | State/Quality | Possession | Thought |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| appear | astonish | consist | belong | agree |
| hear | like | contain | consists | believe |
| resemble | need | deserve | have | disapprove |
| see | fear | involve | owe | doubt |
| taste | hate | matter | want | recognize |
The following sentences incorporate the use of each type of stative verb:
Sense
Do you feel like you need to go to the nurse?
I could smell the pie cooking in the oven.
The new student seems incredibly smart.
Emotion
Laura's friends envied her new car.
Their dog loves his new toy.
Stan really wants to join the hockey team.
State/Quality
Jeffrey's new bike cost $250.
The breakfast buffet includes bacon and sausage.
Eileen exists in a world of her own.
Possession
Do you have any sugar I could borrow?
Brian owns a PlayStation and an Xbox.
Rachel possesses all of the qualities of a great leader.
Thought
Ted approved the final design for the company's new logo.
Wendy disagrees with Ron on where they should eat.
Leo and Colleen promised to remain friends forever.