What words are not used in the present continuous. Verbs that are not used in the present continuous: explanation of the phenomenon

Continuous forms are not used in temporary forms verbs that cannot express an action in its development like a process. These verbs can be roughly divided into four conditional groups:

I. Verbs expressing perception:

• appear - seem
• feel*- feel
• hear - hear
• notice - notice
• recognize - learn
• resemble - to resemble, to resemble
• see- see
• seem - seem
• smell*- smell
• sound- sound
• taste*- have a taste

ATTENTION! The following verbs of perception:

Verb feel:

• when followed by adjectives such as angry/pleased, hot/cold and etc.

How do you feel? or How are you feeling? - How are you feel?

I feel better. or I am feeling better. - I feel yourself better.

• has the meaning " touch, touch, feel «

The doctor feeling his pulse. - Doctor touched his pulse.

Verb smell with the meaning " sniff, sniff «:

The girl is smelling the flower. - Girl sniffing flower.

Verb see with the meaning " see, visit «:

She is seeing her grandmother. - She is visits your grandmother.

Verb taste with the meaning " try «

She is tasting the soup now. - She is tries soup now.

Verb hear with the meaning " receive news «:

I am hearing from him now. - I get From him news now.

II. Verbs expressing emotions, desire

• deserve - deserve
• desire - wish
• environment - envy
• fear - afraid
• hate* - to hate
• love*- be in love
• like*- like
• need- need
• prefer - prefer
• refuse - refuse
• respect- respect
• satisfy - satisfy
• wish- wish
• want- to want

ATTENTION! In colloquial speech, emotional state verbs can be used in continuous form:

I am hating this country so much! - I just hate this country!

III. Verbs expressing mental processes:

• agree- agree
• Belive - believe
• forget - forget
• guess - guess
• deny- deny
• doubt- doubt
• expect- believe
• store - imagine
• know- know
• mean- keep in mind
• realize- imagine; understand
• recognize- learn
• remember - remember
• suppose- assume
• think*- count/assume
• understand - understand

ATTENTION! The following verbs denoting mental activity can be used in continuous form:

Verb think with the meaning " think, contemplate «:

Don't make so much noise. I am thinking. - Don't make too much noise. I think.

IV. Verbs expressing possession, relationship:

• be- to be
• belong - belong
• concern - touch
• consists of - to consist of
• contain - contain
• depend on - depend on
• have* - have
• include- contain
• involved - touch
• keep - keep
• own - own
• possession- possess
• and etc.

ATTENTION! The following verbs denoting possession, relation can be used in continuous form:

Verb have in combination with some nouns with which it forms a semantic whole, for example have dinner - lunch:

I was dinner when he came. - I dined, when he came.

In English, there are a number of certain verbs that have their own characteristics and are not used in groups of long tenses.

Concepts of dynamic and static verbs

Verbs of English language can be roughly divided into two subcategories: static and dynamic.

Dynamic means physical action, activity, development, movement. They are used in all temporary forms, including the group of long tenses. There are a few interesting features that distinguish them from static ones. Actions expressed by dynamic verbs can be consciously performed for a certain period of time and the duration of the process can be controlled. For example, words such as run (run), read (read), speak (speak), learn (teach), dance (dance), work (work). In addition, this activity can be depicted. For example, draw, capture on a camera or take a picture in the process.

Static verbs do not express a process, but a state. These are the verbs that are not used in Continuous. The name stative verbs comes from the word state - state. There are also such names as nonprogressive, non-action verbs. They are used to describe existing states.

Features of static verbs

At first glance, it may seem difficult to remember the following list of unrelated foreign words. However, the most important thing here is to understand the principle. There are several features that will help to see the essence:

• these verbs do not denote a physical action or process;
• some of them convey those states that arise on their own, regardless of the person's intention (smell - to smell, hear - to hear);
• some of the words mean a lightning-fast action that cannot take place over a long period of time (notice - notice).

Verbs not used in Continuous (Stative Verbs)

For more convenient memorization, Stative Verbs are conditionally divided into thematic subgroups.

1. Mental activity and state of consciousness:

• agree / disagree - agree / disagree;
• believe - to believe, to place hopes, to trust;
• deny - deny;
• doubt - doubt;
• expect - expect;
• forget - forget;
• know - to have an idea, to know, to be aware;
• mean - mean;
• mind - to be against, object;
• realize - realize;
• recognize - find out;
• understand - comprehend, interpret, understand.

2. Verbs that are not used in Continuous are used to express an emotional state and feelings:

• admire - admire, admire;
• appreciate - evaluate, appreciate;
• impress - impress;
• respect - respect;
• love - love, adore;
• hate - hate, dislike;
• seem - seem;
• envy - to envy;
• trust - trust.

3. Desire, preferences:

• desire - desire;
• need - need;
• prefer - give preference;
• want - want;
• wish - to strive, to wish, to make a request.

4. Words that denote the perception of the senses (verbs that are not used in Continuous).

Often used with modal verbs can, could to indicate perception at the moment of narration:

• hear - hear;
• see - look, see;
• smell - exude aroma, smell;
• taste - to have a taste.

5. Belonging, attitude:

• belong - belong, be someone's property, belong to (any group), be appropriate;
• concern - to relate, to touch, to be concerned about, to be interested in, to deal with;
• consist - consist contain;
• contain - contain, contain;
• depend (on) - depend (on someone, something), rely on (someone), count;
• differ - to have a difference, to disagree;
• equal - equal, be similar, draw an analogy;
• fit - fit, match, match;
• have - to have;
• include - include, cover;
• involve - involve;
• lack - lack;
• matter - to matter, to be important;
• owe - to be indebted, to have a debt;
• own - to possess;
• possess - to own, to possess;
• resemble - to be like, to be like.

Mixed verbs

There is a certain group of static verbs that are used in the group of long tenses. But at the same time, they take on slightly different shades of meaning. These are polysemic words that hide more than one meaning.

word (word)	state (state)	action (action)
think	believe	ponder
see	see	meet, make an appointment
taste	have a taste	taste
smell	to smell, to smell, to smell	smell, smell
look	seem	watch
weigh	to weight	weigh
remember	remember	recall
be	to be (permanently)	to be in the meaning of "temporarily stay in a certain state"
feel	feel, feel	feel
fit	fit, match	install, install, equip, furnish
appear	seem	appear

Some verbs that are not used in Continuous can sometimes be used in the form of a long tense in order to demonstrate strong emotions, express admiration or indignation:

I am loving this city! - I love this town!

She "s hating that book. - She hates that book.

Verbs to be and to have

to be sometimes used in English in the form of a continuous tense when it is necessary to emphasize the behavior of a person or the state in which he is at the moment.

Verb be in is formed by combining were, were and present participles with ing ending ( being).

Verb have in Present Continuous is used only in some cases. In English, there are certain set expressions that form a single whole.

The auxiliary verb in this case is the word "to be". Therefore, one should not make a mistake using in Continuous. In this case, the third person form is formed by combining the auxiliary verb is and a semantic verb with the ending -ing(present participle).

Examples of the use of mixed verbs

Any theoretical material is much easier to master if you illustrate the rules with specific ones that are not used in Continuous, they are quite easy to remember thanks to an understanding of the principle and division into semantic subgroups. And with the memorization of mixed verbs, there may be some difficulties associated with polysemanticity (that is, polysemy).

One of the best ways to learn new material grammar is to independently come up with several examples on a specific topic and start including them in your speech, using them in dialogues, as well as when writing essays.

In the materials on the grammar of English tenses, it was mentioned more than once about exceptional cases that do not take the continued form, that is, the ending -ing. Today's material is devoted to the study of these situations: we will consider those verbs that are not used in the present continuous and in its perfect counterpart. The general list of verbs is very extensive, so we will group words according to similar features into small groups, which we will study separately. Let's find out why they are not used in continuous and find out if any exceptions are possible in this strict rule.

All verbs in English grammar can be divided into two types:

1) Designation of actions, activity, course of events:

• Ireadthenewspaper– I read this newspaper;
• Wearetalkingabout filmsWe are talking about films;
• Workersbuildanewbridge– Workers are building a new bridge.

In such sentences, it is always about the performance of actions.

2) Expression of states, emotions, feelings, attitudes and thought processes:

• I'mhappy- I'm happy;
• WeliketoruninthemorningsWe like to run in the morning;
• Shehearssoundsofthesea– She hears the sounds of the sea.

Such statements report internal perception or the actual state of affairs.

Representatives of the first group can be used in all time aspects and other grammatical constructions. And the words related to the second paragraph have exceptional properties that do not allow them to form a present continuum. Such lexemes are called static verbs and are studied in a separate section. English grammar. Let's look at their list.

Verbs that are not used in the present continuous under any circumstances

Every person who studies foreign language, strives to make his speech correct. To do this, it is necessary not only to have perfect pronunciation and a large vocabulary, but also to be confident in grammar. The following list of words is a valuable contribution to the grammatically correct construction of speech. After studying it, you will know which verbs do not take the –ing form and subsequently you will never make a mistake when using continued aspects.

State, emotions and desires

This class contains some of the most popular and frequently occurring words that do not form predicates in the continuous.

Other English topics: Present Simple / Present Continuous - exercises for beginners and advanced

Emotional condition
hate	hate	respect	respect
love	be in love	like	Like
detest	cause disgust	environment	envy
adore	adore	wish	want
desire	want	respect	respect
hope	hope	dislike	I do not like
regret	regret	fear	afraid
mind	mind	want	to want

Perception and thinking

No less frequent are mentions of mental activity or sensory perception in the conversation. There are also verbs in this group that are not used in continuous tenses.

Thinking and feeling
realize	realize	mean	to mean
seem	seem	know	know
doubt	doubt	sound	sound
hear	hear	suppose	assume
carefor	take care	agree	agree
understand	understand	remember	remember
prefer	prefer	notice	notice
forget	forget	believe	believe
remind	remind	assume	assume
expect	expect	trust	trust

possession and existence

Constructions with to be and to have are studied in the very first English lessons. Beginners are taught the conjugation of these irregular verbs, but don't mention that they are static. Accordingly, the predicate with these words is not used for progressive tenses. In addition to them, there are many more representatives of this category.

Being and having
be	to be, to be	consist	consist
own	own	depend	depend
exist	exist	lack	lack
possession	have	have	have
contain	contain	belong	belong
owe	owe	include	include in
matter	to mean	keep	keep

Influence, necessity, modal and other verbs

Further division into groups is not advisable, because they will be few in number. Here are the remaining verbs that are never used in the present continuous in one summary table.

non-continuous verbs
need	need	appreciate	value
suit	fit in size	involved	involve
cost	cost	deserve	deserve
concern	touch	influence	influence
resemble	be like	please	please
impress	impress	require	demand
astonish	amaze	satisfy	satisfy
can	be able to	may	be able
must	be to	dare	dare
surprise	surprise	imagine	imagine
measure	to measure	weigh	to weight

With all the verbs listed above, not a single progressive aspect is used! But what English rule with no exceptions? Let's consider them separately.

Polysemantic verbs

Despite being related to the class of static verbs, some words have an ing form. The thing is that they have several meanings, one of which is perceived as a state, and the other as an action. Accordingly, verbs used in the meaning of action lose their static property and are used in continued aspects.

In fact, a couple of such non-standard verbs have already been given above. It is again about to be and have, but not in their main meaning. To be is used in an extended form when talking about temporary, unusual behavior. To have is a constituent element of a set of set expressions, and in these meanings it may well express a long process.

• She is being aqueen She's acting like a queen!
• I' m having a shower nowNowIacceptshower.

The table below lists the receiving continuous verbs that can express both state and action.

Other English topics: Present continuous table of formation of constructions and situations of use

Polysemantic verbs
Word	Static value	Action
think	think = suppose I think he is a brave boy. I think he is a brave boy.	think = think I 'm thinking about my future. I am thinking about my future.
look	to look like You look sad. You look upset.	examine why are you looking at these pictures? Why are you looking at these pictures?
enjoy	enjoy She enjoys her job. She is satisfied with her work.	enjoy process They are enjoying married life. They are enjoying their married life.
feel	feel something feel I feel hungry. I feel hungry.	feel I 'm feeling good. I feel myself good.
taste	be tasty The baked fish tastes good. This baked fish is very tasty.	try John is tasting the baked fish. John tries the baked fish.
smell	smell The flowers smell good. These flowers smell good.	to sniff why is he smelling it? Why is he sniffing it?
see	see Do they see these buildings? Do they see these buildings?	see you = meet We are seeing our relations tomorrow. Tomorrow we are meeting with our relatives.
admire	admire All men admire her beauty. All men admire her beauty.	to admire = to admire I'm admiring the beauty of the ocean. I admire the beauty of the ocean.

It remains to be noted that the use of verbs in the continuum occurs, contrary to all rules and exceptions. Such a move is used to enhance emotional expression, a vivid example is the slogan of a well-known fast food restaurant chain “ I'mlovingit". Despite their popularity, such phrases should not be taken as a grammatical norm.

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The tenses of the Continuous (Progressive) group, as well as the Perfect Continuous (Perfect Progressive) groups, are used mainly to denote actions and events that can unfold, last, for example:

They a re-eating at the moment.	They are eating now.
It is raining now.	It's raining now.

Both of these examples use the predicate in and verbs denoting actions or lengthy processes. These are the so-called action verbs - "action verbs". However, not all verbs that we use in speech denote actions and processes. There are also those that denote certain states of the object - these are verbs that are not used inContinuous- the so-called non action verbs. For example:

In the examples given in the table, the verbs are used in, despite the fact that they denote a situation that is happening right now, at the moment of speech. The fact is that continuous use for these verbs is simply impossible, since they belong to the group of so-called non continuous verbs- verbs that are not used in the tenses of this group.

List of Non Continuous Verbs

The following verbs are usually not used in Continuous tenses, so you should try to remember them. Roughly such exception verbs can be divided into three groups:

a) verbs denoting feelings and preferences

to like	love, like	Jill likes dancing.	Jill loves to dance.
to love	love very much, adore	I love walking barefoot on the wet grass in the morning!	I love walking barefoot on wet grass in the morning!
to hate	hate, hate	Everybody hates greedy people like Tom.	Everyone hates greedy people like Tom.
to want	to want	I'm hungry. I want something to eat.	I'm hungry. I want something to eat.
to need	need	I need a pencil. Could you borrow me yours?	I need a pencil. Could you lend me yours?
to prefer		Paul prefers tea to coffee.	Paul prefers tea to coffee.

b) verbs associated with thinking

to know	know	I know what you want to say.	I know what you want to say.
to realize	realize	Right now Helenrealiseswho the cause of all her troubles was.	Right now, Helen realizes who was the cause of all her troubles.
to suppose	assume	I suppose they are already going home.	I guess they are already on their way home.
to mean	mean, mean	What do you mean?	What do you mean?
to understand	understand	Could you speak a little more slowly, please? I don't understand you.	Could you speak a little more slowly, please? I do not understand.
to believe		Do you believe in God?	Do you believe in God?
to remember	remember, remember	That girl told me her name but I don't remember it now.	That girl told me her name, but I don't remember it now.
to seem	seem	It seems to be a very difficult question for me.	This question seems to me very difficult.

c) verbs expressing belonging relations

to belong	belong	This jacket belongs to my brother.	This jacket belongs to my brother.
to contain		This book contains interesting ideas for business.	This book contains interesting business ideas.
to consist	consist	My family consists of my parents, my sister, my brother and me.	My family consists of my parents, my sister, my brother and me.
to depend	depend	His opinion depends on his environment very much.	His opinion is very dependent on his environment.

The verbs given in these three groups are not used in Continuous, and their use in one of these temporary forms would be a mistake.

Special cases of non-use in Continuous

There are other verbs that are not used in Continuous, which, however, does not apply to all situations. Let's consider them among special cases.

verb

Most often, the verb to think is used in the meaning of "think, consider, have an opinion." In this sense, it is not used in Continuous:

However, if the verb to think appears in the sentence in the sense of “think, reflect, ponder”, then the use of Continuous will be quite justified and permissible, since we are talking about an action, a process:

verb

If the verb to have is used in its base value“to have, to possess, to own”, then using it in Continuous will be unacceptable:

If it is used in one of the stable phrases, denoting rather not possession, but some kind of active action, then the use of the verb to have in Continuous is acceptable and is the norm of the language:

verb

A rare occurrence is Continuous for the verb to be. In fact, the tenses of this group are used with this verb only to denote something unusual, atypical and surprising. Compare:

You'll like Jane when you meet her. She is very nice.	You'll like Jane when you get to know her. She is very sweet.
James is being very nice to me at the moment. I wonder why.	James is very nice to me now. I wonder why.
Tom is very selfish. He always thinks only about his own interests.	Tom is very selfish. He always thinks only of his own interests.
I don't understand why Alex is being so selfish today. He isn't usually like that.	I don't understand why Alex is so selfish today. Usually he's not like that.

Thus, when describing permanent characteristics, the verb to be is used in Simple, and when describing temporary or unusual phenomena, in Continuous.

verbs of perception

Verbs to see, to hear, to smell, to taste usually not used in Continuous, they are more typical forms of Simple:

to see	see	Do you see that road sign over there?	Can't you see the road sign over there?
to hear	hear	I hear someone crying.	I hear someone crying.
to smell	smell, smell	This room smells. Let's open a window.	This room smells. Let's open a window.
to taste	to taste, to taste	Your cake tastes yummy! I like it very much.	Your cake is delicious! I really like him.

Quite often, instead of structures with at times Simple structures containing - "to be able" are used:

In this group, perhaps, only the verb can be used in Continuous, but only in the meaning of "to meet someone":

Verbs andto feel

It’s worth mentioning right away that the verb to look is considered here in the meaning of “look”, since in its main meaning “look” it belongs to the number of ordinary action verbs, and its relationship with Continuous is regulated by the rules familiar to most verbs.

The verb to look in the meaning of "look" and the verb to feel in the meaning of “feel (yourself)” and the context characteristic of the use of Continuous, can be used both in Continuous and in Simple, and this does not affect the meaning of the phrase:

You look tired now.	You look tired today.
You are looking tired now.
How do you feel now?	How do you feel now?
How are you feeling now?

However, do not forget that in contexts typical of Simple (regular / constant state), the use of Continuous will be erroneous:

The correct choice of the Simple or Continuous form is one of the key indicators of literacy English speech language learner, so we advise you to give this issue worthy of attention and we hope that this article will help you understand this important topic.

Most verbs in English can be divided into two broad categories - dynamic (Dynamic Verbs) and static (Stative Verbs) or state verbs.

I recognize him. - I recognize him.
Do they like your new boyfriend? - Do they like your new boyfriend?

Classification of static verbs

In English, state verbs are used in Indefinite/Simple tenses. They can be divided into logical groups.

Thinking verbs

This group consists of verbs that express mental activity.

to agree / to disagree - agree / disagree
to believe - to believe
to doubt - to doubt
to forget - forget
to remember - remember
to understand - understand
to know - to know
to suppose - suppose
to recognize - find out
to respect - respect
to expect - expect

Also in this category is English verb to think in meaning count, suppose. The fact is that one of the meanings of this verb is “to think”. In such a case, it can be used in the form of continuous tense. Here are two examples for comparison:

I think he's a good man. - I think (I suppose) he is a good person.

Verb to think in this sentence it belongs to the category of Stative Verbs and cannot be used in Continuous, as it is rather translated as “I guess, it seems to me”.

I think about this problem every day. I think about this problem every day.

Here is the verb to think has direct meaning. The sentence can use the continuous tense:

I am thinking about it now. - I'm still scratching my head over it (I think).

So, in English there are a number of verbs that can be considered both static and dynamic at the same time. Let's talk about each in its category.

Emotional state verbs

The next group of verbs that are not used in Continuous are words that convey emotional states.

to prefer - prefer
to like - like
to love - to love
to hate - to hate
to wish - wish
to desire - strongly desire
to want - want
to fear - to be afraid
to seem - seem
to need - need
to satisfy - satisfy
to envy - to envy

Everyone knows I'm loving it in the McDonald's slogan is not quite correct from a grammatical point of view. Although, for this phrase, you can find an excuse, which we will talk about a little later. Let's return to this question, but for now a few correct examples:

I need to buy some bread now. I need to buy bread now.
They envy you. Yes, they are just jealous of you.

A distinctive feature of the Continuous tense form is the ability to observe the action in the process from the outside. We can do this when we are talking about a girl who is currently jumping rope, reading a book, or even sitting and puzzling over a problem. However, it is impossible to observe the process hatred or envy.

sensation verbs

In this group you can find verbs associated with the action of the sense organs.
These are the four verbs that are special. Like the verb to think they can have long tense forms in certain meanings.

• to hear - to hear / I can hear something. - I hear something.

In the meaning of “listen, receive news”, this verb can be used in Continuous:
Are you listening? - You are listening?

• to see - see / Cats see well in the dark. - Cats see well in the dark.

In the meaning of “to meet”, this verb has the forms of the continuous tense:
Are you seeing someone? - Are you dating someone?

• to smell - to smell, exude a smell / The dinner smells good. - The dish for dinner smells delicious.

In the meaning of "sniff" we can use the continued tenses in English:
What are you smelling? - What are you sniffing?

• to taste - to have a taste / How does mango taste? - What does mango taste like?

In the meaning of "taste" we can use long tenses:
What are they doing? - They are tasting the sandwiches.
What are they doing? - Try sandwiches.

From the above examples, it becomes clear that these verbs take on Continuous forms only in a state of active action, that is, when someone listens, smells, tastes.

Verbs of possession and relationship

Processes and duration of action are conveyed by means of Indefinite times.

to own - to possess
to posess - own
to belong - to belong
to contain - contain
to consist - consist
to include - include
to have - to have

Does the house belong to you? - Does the house belong to you?
It consists of two pieces. - It consists of two parts.

In this group, it is worth mentioning separately the verb to have, which has continuous forms in some phrases. The phrase in this case denotes one action. Let's compare:

I have a little niece. - I have a little niece.

I'm having a shower. I cannot open the door. - I am taking a shower. I can't open the door.

Phrases such as to have a bath/ shower, to have breakfast/ dinner, to have fun/ rest may take the form of extended time.

To be in the meaning of the state

In combination with adjectives and nouns, this verb conveys a state:

He is brave. - He is brave (is brave).
Sylvia is a princess. - Princess Sylvia.

Usually the verb to be in such cases it is not used in the Continuous form, but the situation is possible. If in English you want to emphasize that the state is temporary:

He is being brave. - He is doing well, he is not a coward.
Sylvia is being a princess. - Sylvia pretends to be a princess. / Or temporarily assumed the powers of such.

And finally, we want to return to I'm loving it. According to the rules of the English language, it is permissible to use continuous forms with static verbs (Stative Verbs) to express a strong emotional attitude.

Victoria Tetkina