Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 4

Linking verbs

What are linking verbs?


Linking verbs (also referred to as copulas or copular verbs) don't show action like ordinary verbs. They rather link or connect the subject to a subject complement, the part of the sentence that follows the verb. This complement which contains additional information describes and identifies the subject. Examples:

Larry looks happy. (looks is a linking verb; happy is a complement that describes and identifies Larry, the subject) The play was good. (was is a linking verb; good is a complement that describes and identifies the play, the subject

List of linking verbs


This is a list of common linking verbs:

appear be become feel get grow look prove remain seem smell stay sound taste turn

Linking verb?
Some of the verbs listed above can function as linking verbs and as ordinary verbs. One trick that you can use to identify whether a verb is a linking verb or an ordinary verb is to see the relation between the subject and complement. If the relation is indicative of an equal sign (=), then it is a linking verb. Consider the following examples:

He looks angry. (He = angry | linking verb) He looked at the man. (He = at the man | action verb)

Examples: look:


taste

Nadia looked happy. (linking verb) Nadia looked at the window. (ordinary verb)


appear

The food tastes delicious. (linking verb) They tasted the food. (ordinary verb)

She appeared quiet. (linking verb) She appeared in the room. (ordinary verb)

Verbs that are sometimes used as linking verbs [list may not be complete] verbs of sense feel taste look smell appear grow remain stay turn seem sound become prove Forms of to be are sometimes used as linking verbs is am are was were

be being been

1.

Linking: The monkey looked hungry. (Hungry monkey or monkey is hungry) In this sentence looked is a linking verb.

2.

Action: The monkey looked for food. "For food" is a prepositional phrase and it must be omitted before checking. The sentence remaining after omitting theprepositional phrase is "The monkey looked". There is no noun or adjective to link monkey to. Looked is an actionverb in this sentence.

3.

Linking: The soup tasted good. Check: soup is good, good soup, soup = good

4.

Action: I tasted the soup. Check: I am the soup (no), soup am I (no) I = soup (no)

5.

Linking: He grew tired of walking. Of walking is a prepositional phrase and not included in the check. You should omit the prepositional phrase to check: "He grew tired". Check: He is tired, tired is he, he = tired.

6.

Action: He grew into a tall man. Omit the prepositional phrase into a tall man before checking. That leaves the sentence, "He grew." There's no noun or adjective left to link to, so grew is used as an action verb in this sentence.

7.

Linking: Mother appeared happy at her party. Omit the prepositional phrase, "at her party". Now the sentence reads, "Mother appeared happy." Check: mother is happy, happy mother, mother = happy.

8.

Action: Mother appeared quietly in the room. Omit the prepositional phrase, "in the room". The sentence now reads: Mother appeared quietly. Quietly is an adverb, omit the adverb. "Mother appeared." There is no noun or adjective to link mother to, so appeared is used as an action verb.

9.

Linking: The bugle sounds loud. Check: bugle is loud, loud bugle, bugle = loud (yes, yes, and yes)

10. Action: The bugle sounded loudly. Check: Bugle is loudly. (no) Loudly describes the verb. It answers the question How? Loudly is an adverb, omit the adverb. That leaves the sentence "The bugle sounded."

Two important points to remember: When a sentence contains a linking verb, THE COMPLEMENT MAY BE EITHER A NOUN OR AN ADJECTIVE. When the main verb in a sentence is a linking verb and the complement is a noun, THE SUBJECT AND THE COMPLEMENT ARE EQUAL. I felt BAD about hurting his feelings. I felt BADLY about hurting his feelings. Which of these sentences is correct? If youve studied this worksheet carefully, you know that the first sentence is correct because feel is a linking verb the complement of the verb has to be an ADJECTIVE A HINT: If you cant decide whether a verb is active or linking, try to substitute one of these words--am, is, was, were--in the sentence. Mary APPEARS snobbish. Mary IS snobbish. Mr. Smith LOOKED unhappy yesterday. Mr. Smith WAS unhappy yesterday. The speaker SEEMED nervous before the crowd. The speaker WAS nervous before the crowd. In the sentences above, appears, looked, and seemed are linking verbs, based on this substitution.

Вам также может понравиться