100 Examples of Stative Verbs and Dynamic Verbs in English

The stative verbs or “static” verbs in English, they express states or conditions, and not actions. They express permanent facts, such as tastes, beliefs, emotions or possession. For example: believe (believe),sees it (love),own (have).

The dynamic verbs o “dynamic” verbs in English express actions and activities, not states. These actions imply change or movement. For example: swimming (swim),study (study),talk(talk).

Verbs in English are classified into stative verbseither dynamic verbsdepending on whether or not they can be conjugated in continuous tenses. While thedynamic verbsThey can be used in continuous or simple tenses depending on the context, thestative verbs They are only used in the simple tenses.

• See also: Verbs in English

Stative verbs

The stative verbs(either state verbs) are verbs that by definition do not express movement or change. They express permanent states or conditions such as opinions, feelings, tastes and beliefs. They are used only together with simple tenses, such as the

present simple, past simplepresent perfect simple. They are not used in continuous tenses.

The stative verbsthey are classified in:

Verbs of thought and opinion

Verb	Translation	Example
agree	agree	Yo agree with you.
believe	believe	We believe in God.
deserve	deserve	They deserve another chance.
disagree	disagree	I have disagrees with us.
doubt	dude	Yo doubt its authenticity.
expect	expect that	We expect our team will win.
forget	forget (be)	She always forgets things.
imagine	imagine	Yo imagine a world without crime.
know	know	I have knows a lot of English.
mean	mean	“Pencil” means "pencil".
realize	realise	she never realized how much I loved her.
recognize	acknowledge, admit	Yo recognize my mistake.
remember	remember	You must remember to do your homework.
seems	seem	It's not what it seems.
suppose	suppose	Yo suppose they'll be here in a minute.
think	think	Yo think you're right.
understand	understand	Do you understand what are they saying?

Verbs of tastes and feelings

Verb	Translation	Example
adore	to adore	She adore her child.
can't stand	not bear	I have can't stand boxing.
care	matter, prefer	I don't care if they eat or not.
hate	detest	We hate violence.
dislike	displease	Yo dislike any kind of meat.
hate	hate	Mom hate soap operas.
hope	expect that	Yo hope to see you soon.
like	like	Kate likes gardening.
sees it	love	Yo sees it Impressionism.
mind	annoy	Do you mind if I open the window?
need	need	They need our help.
prefer	prefer	dad prefers coffee to tea.
wanted	want	My friends wanted to go out tonight.
wish	want	Yo wish you were here.

Verbs of existence and possession

Verb	Translation	Example
baby	be be	She wants to baby to doctor.
belong	belong	Who does this book belong dude?
eat (from)	originate from	Paul you eat from Brazil.
exists	exist	Do you think ghosts exists?
have	have	They have a big car.
own	have, own	my family owns to farm.
possesses	possess	These houses possesses all the features of the period.

perception verbs

verbs	Translation	Example
feel	feel	This fabric feels soft.
hear	hear	Yo'goheard to bang.
hurt	to hurt	the wound hurts.
looks	look, look, seem	you looks beautiful.
see	see	Yo see what you mean.
smell	smell	Item smells burning!
sound	dream	That sounds familiar.
taste	taste like, like	This meal tastes delicious.

State and attribute verbs

Verb	Translation	Example
consist	consist	What does the visit consist of?
contains	contain	This drink contains a lot of minerals.
cost	Cost	Item costs fortune!
depend	depend	Item depends on how much you want to spend.
involves	to imply	hiking involves a lot of physical effort.
measure	measure	Item measures the number of heart beats per minute.
resemble	resemble	The little girl resembles her mother.
seems	seem	Item seems to be easy.
weight	weigh	your backpack weighs ton!

Dynamic verbs

The dynamic verbs (either action verbs) are verbs that by definition express movement or change. They express actions and activities (and not states) that can be temporary or permanent. The dynamic verbs They can be used in continuous or simple tenses, depending on the context. For example:

• I live in Buenos Aires./ I live in Buenos Aires.(present simple: permanent action)
• I'm living with a friend now. / Now I'm living with a friend.(present continuous: temporary action)

Some dynamic verbs are:

Verb	Translation	Example
arrive	arrive	you always arrive beats.
bring	bring	are you bringing a friend with you?
buy	buy	They wanted to buy a bigger house.
catch	take	Yo’mcatching the train home.
clean	clean	Yo’mcleaning my room.
eat	come	Yo am coming with you.
cook	cook	my brother is cooking Pancakes.
dance	dance	They’re dancing to Greek music.
do	do	Kevin he is doing his homework.
drink	to drink	I don't drink much coffee.
drive	drive	Can you drive me home?
eat	eat	They're eating out tonight.
enjoy	enjoy	We’re enjoying the party.
fail	fall down	I think II'm falling in love.
finish	finish	YoI'm finishing lunch.
give	give	Could you give did you ride me?
grow	grow	This plant is growing healthily.
help	help	Can you help me with this?
improve	improve	you’ve improved your English a lot!
learn	learn	YoI'm learning how to drive.
live	live	Sheit's been living with a host family.
make	do	Mom is making to cake.
play	play	The children are playing in the garden.
rain	rain	Item’s not raining yet.
run	run	YoI've been running every week.
start	begin	Item’s starting to snow.
sail	browse	they always go sailing on the river.
take	seize, take, carry	are you taking the bus to school?
teaching	teach	She’s teaching me how to drive.
travel	travel	TheyI've been traveling all over the world for a month.
walk	walk	WeI'm walking across the park.
watches	look	YoI'm watching a good series.
work	work	dad is working long hours.
write	write	YoI'm writing my essay.

Exception: Verbs that are stative and dynamic

there are some stative verbs what can they be dynamic depending on the context, with differences in meaning. In these cases, the use of continuous time expresses an activity (and not a state).

verbs that can be stativeand dynamic are:

Verb	as stative verb	as dynamic verb
think	It is used to express opinion. Yo think you're not right. I think you are not right.	It is used to express mental activity. We are thinking of buying a new house. We are thinking of buying a new house.
have	It is used to express possession. I have have you a brother and a sister. He has a brother and a sister.	It is used to express activity. They are having a great time at the party. They are having a great time at the party.
see	It is used to express understanding. Yo see your point. I see your point.	It is used to express activity. Yo am seeing my friends this afternoon. I see my friends this afternoon.
taste, feel, smell, look	It is used to express the senses and perception. This food tastes really good. This food tastes really good.	It is used to express activity. Mom is tasting the stew. Mom is testing the stew.
baby	It is used to express a permanent state. you are irresponsible. You are irresponsible.	It is used to express a temporary state. you are being irresponsible. You are being irresponsible.

Follow with:

• Verbs with –ing either "to infinitive»
• «present continuous" in English
• «past continuous" in English
• «present perfect continuous" in English

Interactive test to practice