Stative verbs A.

Consider the following extracts from the text:

... she regards the worlds belief that...

Theres one aspect of his thought that I find increasingly upsetting...
What I cant understand is...
... it seems like an agnostic slamming a door in her face...

The verbs in italics are often referred to as stative verbs. These are either not normally
groups used in the progressive or change heir meaning when used in the simple or
progressive.
Look through the list of common stative verbs below and classify them into groups
suggested.
1. verbs related to the senses: taste, smell, hear, feel, sound, find
2. verbs related to thinking: know, guess, mean, believe, doubt, mind, regard,
realize, understand, remember, imagine, seem, depend on, find
3. verbs related to possession: belong to, contain, have, own, involve
4. verbs related to emotional states: prefer, love, like, dislike, hate, want
5. verbs related to appearance: appear, seem
6. others:
appear

believe

belong to

contain

hate

have

depend on

doubt dislike
feel

find

involve

guess
know

like

realize

regard

remember

taste

understand

want

mean
seem

hear
mind

smell

imagine
own

prefer

sound suppose

B. Meaning changes in stative verbs. In the following pairs of sentences, put the verb into
the correct tense, and explain the differences in meaning between the simple and
progressive form of the verbs.

1. Im surprised you arent enjoying your music classes. I thought (think) they would be
ideal for you.
2. I am thinking (think) about getting a new car soon, but Ill have to put it off until next
year because I cant afford it.

3. The concept of infinity is (be) very difficult for most people to grasp.
4. I told him he was being (be) unnecessarily difficult and that he ought to make a
compromise.
5. There was no one downstairs; so she turned off the light again and decided that she
must have been imagining (imagine) things.
6. You can tell your bank manager about your difficulties, but I dont imagine (not/imagine)
he will be all that sympathetic.
7. The last time I went to Stratford, Janet Suzman was appearing (appear) as Cleopatra.
8. They stated in their report that there appeared (appear) to be a strong link between
hooliganism and social deprivation.
9. Im entirely in favour of the new law. I always felt (always/feel) there was something
morally questionable about blood sports.
10. If you havent been feeling (not/feel) very well recently, you ought to go and see the
doctor.

- Explanations -

1. Thought is used since the speaker had a feeling in the past that is untrue in the present
situation.
2. The continuous form is applied since the meaning of think implies a future plan. When a
state verb such as think states an action, the continuous form is used.
3. The non action word is cannot be applied in continuous form except for situations like
when someone is behaving or acting unusually or unnaturally.
4. Be + being + a personality/character adjective is used when someone or something
is acting not normal than customary.
5. The speaker assumed that at a particular past time she was trying to think about
something which was unreal, thus stating that her mind was working. Imagine is not
commonly used in this form unless it suggests an action.
6. Imagine expresses an opinion relatively different from an action word.
7. The past continuous form was appearing refers to Janet Suzman playing the role as
Cleopatra. It is used to imply an action which was done by her performing as Cleopatra in
the play.

8. Appeared is used primarily because it expresses a past action or completed event therefore it requires the simple past.
9. Felt is used due to the presence of the adverb always in the sentence which suggests
something that was true in the past and no longer exists in the present.
10. The present perfect continuous havent been feeling is applied in this sentence
because of the adverb recently which emphasizes a situation that connect the past to the
present time.

References:
Raymond Murphy - English Grammar In Use 3rd Edition, Cambridge University
Press, 2004
Michael Swan - Practical English Usage 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press