Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Catherine.
And me, Neil.
Hello.
In this programme, we're talking about state verbs.
We'll explain what they are.
We'll show you how to use them.
We'll give you lots of examples.
And we'll finish with a quiz to see what you've learnt.
So, let's get started.
We can separate English verbs into two groups – state verbs and action verbs.
Most verbs are action verbs.
And of course action verbs describe actions.
So verbs like go, kick, watch, rain are all action verbs.
And we can use them in any tense we want – past, present, future, perfect, passive, continuous – the lot.
Yes, but state verbs are different because we don't usually use them in the continuous tenses.
That's right.
We don't use state verbs in tenses that use the –ing form, such as the present continuous and the past continuous.
Right.
Now you're probably asking what kind of verbs are state verbs.
Well, there are three main types.