We have, thus far, looked at the concept of verbs as a very important part of speech and gone ahead to look at action verbs as one of the main types of this all-important part of speech.
Let’s now explore the other major verb type: stative verbs. Just like we did with the action verbs, we will look at what stative verbs are, and list a number of verbs that fall within this category of verbs.
What are Stative Verbs?
Stative verbs express states of being rather than actions. Examples include “hunu (see)”, “te (hear)”, “kae (remember)”, “te aseɛ (understand)”, “yɛ (to be)”, “wɔ (have; possession)”, etc. Let’s see how these and other Twi stative verbs are used in the table below.
Stative Verbs in Twi
| Twi | English | Usage Example |
|---|---|---|
| yɛ | to be (descriptive) | meyɛ bibini I am an African (black person) |
| wɔ | to be (location) | mewɔ fie I am home |
| te | to be (stative) | ɛte sɛn? how is it? |
| de | to be (naming) | mede Kwame I am (named) Kwame |
| wɔ | have | mewɔ sika pii I have a lot of money |
| wɔ | belong to | ɛdan no wɔ me the house/building belongs to me |
| nim | know | aberanteɛ no nim me the young man knows me |
| pɛ | like/want | wopɛ fufuo dodo you like fufu too much |
The above examples are true Twi stative verbs. They convey stative meanings and also act structurally as stative verbs in Twi. There are a number of English stative verbs, however, that do convey stative meanings in Twi, but behave structurally as action verbs in Twi. It is important to make this distinction because the structural rules (e.g. tense rules) that apply to one set tend not to apply to the other.
Below are some verbs that convey stative meanings in Twi, but behave structurally as action verbs.
| Twi | English | Usage Example |
|---|---|---|
| hunu | see | mehunuu ɔsebɔ I saw a tiger |
| te | hear | mete dede wɔ m’asom I hear noise in my ear |
| kae | remember | wokae? do you remember? |
| te aseɛ | understand | me yere te aseɛ my wife understands |
| yɛ adwene | agree | Kofi ne me yɛ adwene Kofi agrees with me |
| sɛ | resemble | ntaafoɔ no sɛ the twins resemble (each other) |
| hia | need | mehia ɔdɔ I need love |
| hyɛ bɔ | promise | mehyɛ wo bɔ sɛ menni wo hwammɔ da I promise you that I will never betray you |
| tan | hate | ɔwofoɔ biara nni hɔ a ɔtan ne ba no parent hates his/her child |
| ani sɔ | appreciate | Kofi ani sɔ deɛ Ama ayɛ ama no nyinaa Kofi appreciates all that Ama has done for him |
| gye di | believe | megye di sɛ wo ho yɛ I believe you are well |
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