Non-Action Verb Examples

Some verbs cannot be used in a continuous tense. They are called non-action verbs (non-progressive verbs). They describe situations or conditions that exists and not an action in progress.

Example: I know your father.
INCORRECT: I am knowing your father.

Here, know is a non-action verbs.

Some verbs that are non-action verb are as follows:

know	understand	believe	suppose	doubt
remember	recognize	mind	prefer	please
hate	care about	fear	like	dislike
appreciate	matter	exist	belong	possess
own	desire	want	need	wish
hear	sound	consist of	contain	surprise
amaze	seem	look like	agree	disagree
resemble	promise	mean

Some common verbs have both action and non-action meanings. They are as follows:

Verbs	Non-action	Action
love	Nancy loves his babies.	Nancy is enjoying motherhood. She is loving it.
feel	The dog's fur feels soft.	I am feeling tired.
look	She looks angry.	I am looking at you.
think	I think you are a nice person.	I am thinking about my family.
be	He is wise.	He is being foolish today.
see	See that bird.	I am seeing a doctor today.
taste	Soup tastes too salty.	The chef is tasting the pudding.
appears	David appears to be busy.	Michael is appearing on a radio show today.
have	I have a book.	I am having a good time.
smell	A flower smells good.	Yogesh is smelling the flower.