In this fast-paced social world, every situation that takes place gets instantly shared. Most of us want to be the first ones to share it on different social platforms and in our haste, not much attention is paid on the usage of English. Nevertheless, we use English to communicate our emotions and feelings and the language is incomplete without grammar. Whatever you share with your family or friends include some kind of action and a verb explains an action.

Verbs are used to express a state or an action. They show what people or things do, think or feel.

Example: Rana is driving a car.

In the above example, the subject is Rana and whatever he is doing is an action. Hence, a verb or an action word in this sentence is driving. There are two types of verbs, namely dynamic or action verbs and stative verbs.

Dynamic verbs explain actions we take, or things that happen. Most of us are familiar with dynamic verbs. Today, let us learn more about stative verbs.

What are stative verbs?

Stative verbs refer to a state and not an action. These verbs relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses and measurements.  They are not used in the continuous (ing) forms. We use simple tenses for them.

Examples:

• Juhi feels sick today. She has been suffering from fever since two days.
• Can you recognize that guy if you see him again?
• Our boss appreciated Pooja for her hard work.

Stative verbs generally fall into 4 groups:

- Verbs that show emotion - love, hate, want, need, etc.
- Verbs that show thought - believe, doubt, know, understand, etc.
- Verbs that show possession - have, own, want, contain, etc.
- Verbs that show senses - hear, see, smell, etc.

Examples:

- I love chocolate cakes.
- I doubt if Riddhish is into depression.
- Archana wants IPhone6.
- Your perfume smells nice.

However, there are some stative verbs which can be action verbs also and mean differently.

Examples:

- I have a bike. – state verb showing possession
- I am having a bath. – action verb which, in this case, means taking.

- Jayanti thinks you are cool. – state verb meaning 'in my opinion'.
- Poornima is thinking to buy a cellphone. – action verb meaning 'considering'.

Take a quick quiz and check whether the following sentences are using stative verbs or not:

1. She is disliking garlic.
a) Correct  b) Incorrect

2. Raji is reading a good book.
a) Correct b) Incorrect

3. Sona please don’t forgetting me.
a) Correct b) Incorrect

4. Vishu is knowing me since 2 years.
a) Correct b) Incorrect

5. She hates school.
a) Correct b) Incorrect

Answers: 1. B  2. A 3. B 4. B 5. A

Understanding these minute aspects of English will help you be a better communicator. A spoken English course improves your communication skills and makes you a proficient speaker.

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-By Shailja Varma

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