20 Stative Verb Examples: How To Express Yourself!

What do love, hate, need, and prefer have in common? They are all stative verb examples! We will use 20 here today to express our opinions! Any time we want to talk about things we feel, rather than an action, we need to use stative verbs. Today we will also improve our English by practicing how to pronounce love, a very common stative, and also go over 20 stative sentences. After all that, you’ll be a pro with these verbs!

Stative verb examples

Here are the first 10 of our stative verb examples. Read through and repeat all of these. After that, we will dive a little deeper into what stative, or state verbs are.

Stative verb examples	Meanings
To love	To hold a deep affection for someone or something. We might love certain people, songs, food, many things.
To hate	If we really dislike something or somebody, then we hate it or them!
To need	To require something because it is essential or very important.
To prefer	This means to like one thing or person better than another. I prefer rice to bread.
To believe	To accept as true or to have confidence in something or someone.
To doubt	If you are uncertain about something or lack conviction, then you doubt.
To remember	To have in or be able to bring into one’s mind an awareness of someone or something from the past.
To agree	This means to have the same view or opinion about something, as someone else.
To understand	To get, or grasp, the meaning or explanation of something.
To recognize	It means to identify someone or something seen before.

Try to make sentences with each stative verb!

What is a stative verb?

Let’s look at what stative verbs are, and also – What is the rule for stative verbs?

Stative verbs are verbs that describe a state of being, condition, or situation, rather than actions or processes. They usually relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being, and measurements. The rule for stative verbs is they typically do not take continuous tenses. This means they are generally not used in forms that end with -ing to indicate ongoing actions, such as the present continuous tense. Stative verbs express a state which is not expected to change in the moment of speaking and tends to be permanent or long-lasting. Some grammar guides make exceptions for certain contexts or usages, but normally, using the continuous tense with stative verbs is considered nonstandard.

Examples of stative verbs include:

To know (a fact or someone)
To believe (an idea or opinion)
To like (a preference or affection for something)

These verbs typically do not take the continuous tense because their meaning involves a state that does not change over time or is not expected to change at the moment of speaking. Saying “I am knowing” instead of “I know” is not standard because “knowing” is a state that one typically remains in, rather than a momentary or changing action.

How to pronounce love: a common state verb

One of the more common stative verbs is love. Let’s look at how to pronounce this. Repeat after me: “I love learning new words”

The word “love” is pronounced as a single syllable: /lʌv/. The “o” in love sounds like the “u” in “cup” or “mud,” and the “v” is the same as in “very” or “victory.” Here is a breakdown:

The initial “l” sound is made by placing the tip of your tongue against the back of your front teeth without touching the roof of your mouth, and then letting air escape around the sides of the tongue.
The “u” is pronounced with a short “uh” sound, as in “hug”.
The “v” sound is voiced; you make it by gently biting your lower lip and vibrating your vocal cords as you release air.

Stative verb examples: part 2

Here is the second set of stative verb examples. Keep reading and repeating, you’re doing well! Each of these stative verbs typically indicates a mental state or a condition rather than a physical action.

Stative Verb	Meaning
To imagine	To form a picture or idea in the mind.
To belong	This state verb means to be of importance or have significance.
To contain	To have or hold something within.
To consist	To be composed or made up of.
To owe	If have an obligation to pay or repay something or someone, then you owe.
To impress	When we impress someone, we cause them to feel admiration or respect.
To mean	We want to intend to convey or refer to a specific thing.
To appear	This state verb means to be of importance or have significance.
To own	To possess something as property.
To matter	This state verbs means to be of importance or have significance.

Stative sentences

Now let’s practice making some stative sentences! Read and repeat all of these so that you are comfortable with the structures. After that, attempt to make your very own sentences!

To love: My mother loves gardening.
To hate: Jake hates being late.
To need: You need a jacket in the cold.
To prefer: Eve prefers chocolate to vanilla.
To believe: Children believe in magic!
To doubt: I doubt that story is true.
To remember: Do you remember his name?
To agree: They agree on the importance of education.
To understand: We understand the instructions.
To recognize: You recognize a friend in the crowd.
To imagine: Imagine being an astronaut!
To belong: This key belongs to that door.
To contain: The bottle contains water.
To consist: Our team consists of four members.
To owe: He owes me ten dollars!
To impress: Her talent impresses everyone.
To mean: This word means ‘friendship’.
To appear: Mary appears confident.
To own: My aunt owns a vintage car.
To matter: Every vote matters in an election.

List of state verbs

Here is the List of state verbs, or stative verbs, that we have practiced using today. They are among the more common ones we have in English.

To love
To hate
To need
To prefer
To believe
To doubt
To remember
To agree
To understand
To recognize
To imagine
To belong
To contain
To consist
To owe
To impress
To mean
To appear
To own
To matter

Stative verb examples: FAQs

Now that we have practiced to common stative verbs, we will next check out some commonly asked questions about these words.

How do you know if a verb is stative?

To figure out if a verb is stative or not, consider if it represents a condition or state of being rather than an action. Stative verbs typically relate to thoughts, emotions, senses, desires, possessions, and measurements, and do not show physical actions. They are also not commonly used in progressive tenses.

For example, “I believe in fairness” uses “believe,” a stative verb, to express an opinion, not an action.

What are the two types of stative verbs?

Stative verbs can be categorized mainly into two types: those that describe emotions and those that indicate a state of existence or a mental state. Emotional stative verbs relate to feelings, whereas verbs indicating a state or mental state refer to possession, understanding, and senses.

An example of the emotional type is “She adores classical music.”
For the latter, consider “He knows the answer to that question.”

Is forget a stative verb?

Yes, “forget” is considered a stative verb because it describes a mental state of not remembering something. It indicates a condition of one’s memory rather than a deliberate action.

For instance, “I forget his name” communicates a state of forgetfulness, not an ongoing action.

Is speak a stative verb?

No, “speak” is not a stative verb. It’s an action verb as it describes the act of talking or conveying information verbally, which is an observable action rather than a state of being or condition.

As an example, “She speaks three languages fluently” highlights speaking as a performing action.

Is love a stative verb?

Yes, “love” is a stative verb because it expresses an emotion, which is a state of feeling towards someone or something. It does not represent a physical action that can be seen or measured directly.

A sentence like “I love chocolate” demonstrates love as a lasting state of affection.

Is stay a stative verb?

“Stay” can be a bit tricky as it can function as both an action and a stative verb depending on the context. In most cases, it’s used as an action verb implying the continuation of position or a halt in movement. However, when it is used to describe a state without an endpoint, it can be considered stative.

For action: “We decided to stay at the beach for an hour.”
For state: “In chess, the king stays important throughout the game.”

Stative verb examples: great for talking about opinions and feelings

Iearning these 20 stative verb examples will have helped your English progress today, I am sure! Stative verbs are like the unsung heroes of expressing our inner world. They’re all about what’s going on in our heads and hearts, like what we feel or think, rather than what we’re actually doing with our hands or feet. When you say “I love pizza” or “I believe in magic,” there’s no real action there, but those verbs—love and believe—explain what’s happening inside you. They’re perfect for sharing our opinions and feelings because they zoom right in on our personal experiences and let us talk about our likes, dislikes, hopes, and dreams in a super straightforward way.