STATIVE VERBS

Hay verbos que generalmente no se usan en la forma continua.  Son los verbos estáticos.  Describen un estado (condición o situación) más que una acción, una actividad que cambia.    Los verbos estáticos más comunes  son aquellos que describe un estado: "have", "contain"; un proceso mental: "believe", "think", "remember"; aquellos verbos que expresan emoción "love", "want", "prefer", "doubt"; Por último, los verbos que apelen a los sentidos: "smell", "hear", "see".

1. States, e.g. be, have, contain.
   • She has blonde hair.
   • I am the king of Kongo.
2. Mental processes, e.g. believe, feel, remember, realize, suspect.
   • I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas.
   • The founders of the United States of America believed that all men were created with equal authority.
3. Emotional states e.g. love, want, prefer, doubt
   • I doubt there will be a free TV set.
   • She doesn't like to admit to mistakes.
   • The boys prefer dogs to cats.
4. Senses (e.g. smell, hear, see):
   • I can smell something burning.
   • She could easily see that I was sweating.

Pero, a veces, estos verbos estáticos adquieren otro significado,  una actividad o proceso, por lo que pueden expresarse en el presente continuo, como vemos en los ejemplos que aparecen a continuación:

Verb Form	Verb	Example	Meaning
Simple	to think	I think you should see a doctor	opinion
Continuous	to be thinking	I'm thinking of changing my flat	trying to reach a decision
Simple	to love	I love going to the cinema	feeling
Continuous	to be loving	You look great in this hat. I'm loving it, man!	emphasis or gradual process
Simple	to smell	I smell something burning	sense
Continuous	to be smelling	My baby was smelling a flower	activity
Simple	to have	He's really rich — he has 3 cars	possession
Continuous	to be having	When you called me, I was having a bath	activity
Simple	to see	I can see you have a big garden	sense
Continuous	to be seeing	I'm seeing him later	appointment
Simple	to taste	I could taste a lot of sugar in the wine	sense
Continuous	to be tasting	He was tasting the cake and said it was OK	activity