state verbs practice 1

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State Verbs Practice 1
State verbs describe states of being, including:
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•
•

actions that happen in your head, e.g. believe, know, want
likes and dislikes, e.g. like, dislike, love, hate, prefer
senses, e.g. see, hear, smell, taste

They do not usually have continuous forms. Underline the correct option in each sentence:

1. Paula absolutely
2. I

loathed / was loathing her new colleague’s aftershave.

keep / am keeping fit by exercising regularly and eating healthily.

3. We know that the children
4. The film
5. I

lie / are lying about who broke the DVD player.

lasts / is lasting for about ninety minutes.

think / ’ve been thinking about going to Hawaii next year.

6. Alice

saw / was seeing a comet when she visited the observatory last week.

7. Since Eric lost weight, his clothes
8. We

don’t fit / are not fitting him any more.

have / ’re having a barbecue on Saturday night, if you want to come over.

seemed / was seeming really angry. What does he want / is he
wanting?

9. John

10. I

have / ’m having four puppies for sale, if you want to buy one.

11. Paul

has promised / has been promising to lend me his guitar for years.

12. The weekend consists of / is consisting of five seminars and two practical
sessions where you can put / be putting into practice what you have learned.
13. We

weighed / were weighing the elephants for four hours yesterday.

14. I don’t think you
15. The boys

realise / are realising how much Bonnie is in love with you.

were / were being silly in the lab, when the head teacher walked in.

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Big Grammar Book Intermediate Book 1