What Is a Copula?

By Joan Reinbold, eHow Contributor

A copula is a type of verb that connects the subject of a sentence with all that makes up the
predicate. The predicate consists of a word, combination of words, verb, objects or phrases which
are not in the subject but are governed by the verb.
The word "copula" comes from a Latin noun meaning a 'tie' or 'link' between two things. ince a
copula is a verb that links the subject with a modifier, it is also called a linking verb.
Identification
!. "n #nglish copulas can be used to e$press identity, predication %relation and property
attributes&, or membership.
"dentity can e$pressed as follows' he doesn't want 'to be' you. (redication can be as follows' )ill
he 'be' chopping the tree* +embership can be e$pressed as follows' " 'am' one of them.
,opula can have 'non copular' %au$iliary& uses that make the passive voice %making it an intransitive
verb&, and to e$press something happening at that moment. "t can also be used to e$press
e$istence.
Existential Usage of the Copula
-. The copula 'to be' has an "e$istential usage." This means that it e$presses e$istence. "t is
sometimes hard to tell the difference between its e$istential usage and its copulative usage.
)ithin professional linguistics, there is the concept of e$istential constructions. "n its beginnings, this
construction used words like 'there' in place of the e$istential use of a verb.
The concept that copulas can e$press literal e$istence is refuted by some such as Abelard. .e
tested copulas using a "reductio ad absurdum" argument and came to the conclusion that copulas
do not e$press e$istence.
Considerations
/. A language's most fre0uently used copula can be referred to as "the copula."
,ertain languages don't use the copula as fre0uently as #nglish does. Languages like 1ussian,
.ebrew, Arabic and .ungarian don't use the copula in the present tense.
"n #nglish the copula, "to be," is highly irregular. "To be" conjugates into eight different forms, which
are' being, been, be, is, am, was, are and were. This high level of irregularity is common in the "ndo2
#uropean language family, to which #nglish belongs.
Misconceptions
3. The word "copula" is used in fields outside of language. This includes music, statistics and
developmental anatomy.
The "membership" use of a copula is sometimes considered to be the only main usage, with all
others being subsets.
How to Spot a Copula
4. )hen analy5ing a sentence, there is a test to tell if a word is an active verb or a copula. The
verb in 0uestion is replaced with a conjugation of the copula "to seem" or "to be." ".ans felt the
ledge" makes no sense when "felt" is replaced with "seems" or "was." ".ans felt odd" still makes
sense when "felt" is replaced with "seemed" or "was."
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