11 Oct What’s the difference between action and state verbs?

While verbs usually describe actions, some verbs can be used to describe states, such as emotions, opinions or beliefs. Such verbs cannot be used in continuous forms (be + -ing). Let’s have a look how state and action verbs are used.

Action Verbs

As you can tell from their name, action verbs are used to describe actions – things that happen. Action verbs can be used in the present simple or the present continuous (as well as other tenses, but let’s just stick to these two for now). Have a look at the sentences below:

Present Simple	Present Continuous
It rains here almost every day.	It's raining.

Both sentences contain the verb rain, which describes an action. In the present simple, the action happens usually – almost every day. When we use the present continuous, the action is happening now, at the moment of speaking.

Here are some more action verbs to give you a better idea of how they work:

Present Simple	Present Continuous
We eat pizza on Fridays.	We're eating pizza.
I speak English, Italian and German.	I can't understand him. He's not speaking clearly.

State Verbs

We use state verbs to describe states like mental states (e.g. think, believe, know) or the senses (e.g. smell, taste). These verbs aren’t usually used in the present continuous.

Don't say:	Say:
What are you meaning? I’m not understanding you.	What do you mean? I don't understand you.
I’m not believing it!	I don't believe it!
I’m needing a new coat.	I need a new coat.
Are you liking the movie?	Are you enjoying the movie or Do you like the movie?

Some verbs can be used in the continuous form when they have a certain meaning:

     I’m seeing the dentist at nine o’clock   present continuous = talking about a plan

     I see what you mean  present simple = I understand (not I‘m seeing what you mean)

The verb feel is another example – it can be used to mean both to have an opinion (state verb) or to touch (action verb).

Common state verbs

Mental and emotional states
doubt	believe	feel (have an opinion)
hate	like/dislike	love
imagine	know	realise
prefer	recognise	remember
see (understand)	suppose	think (have an opinion)
understand	want	wish

Senses
feel	hear	see
smell	sound	taste

Communication
agree	disagree	deny
appear	look (seem)	seem
astonish	impress	surprise
promise	please	mean

Other state verbs
belong	be	concern
consist	contain	depend
deserve	fit	include
involve	matter	need
owe	own	possess