Questions tagged [linking-verbs]
"Linking verbs" (also called "copulas") are verbs which link a subject to a predicate complement which describes or identifies it. 'Be' is the principle linking verb; some more are 'become', 'remain', 'seem'.
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Is she coming? She doesn't appear/seem to
Is she coming?
She doesn't appear/seem to
It doesn't appear/seem so.
Are both answers possible?
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'Feel strongly' vs 'strongly feel'
After feel, use strongly in conveying the idea of emotions.
Compare:
I feel badly about the accident because it was my fault.
The President feels strongly about the need of a negotiating table. ...
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singular subject + plural verb + plural predicate nominative ("The only garbage ARE his supporters.")
Please help in our argument: is it good English to say: The only garbage ARE his supporters?
If yes, what would the explanation be?
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Which sentence is the most correct? [closed]
He looks like the hottest thing ever.
He looks the hottest thing ever.
Which one is the most correct?
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Can the verb "be' be a dynamic verb?
I have read from many sources that 'be,' 'seem,' and 'become,' are always linking verbs. But I have seen a few sources mentioning 'be' as occasionally a dynamic verb as well.
If 'be' is always a ...
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"Giant diamond teardrops and swooping strings of chandelier glass hang imperious and heavy over the tables."
(From A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe)
William takes in the ballroom's high ceiling, the pink and white embellishments, looping and twisting in and out of the alcoves. Giant diamond teardrops ...
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The omission of the copula is
I was on a plane and saw this, but I was not sure if another “is” is needed before the adjective punishable.
“Unauthorised removal of life vest is a criminal offense and punishable by law”
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Is "it is looking good" slang?
I heard American people often say this.
Say, a person is drawing a picture. When he is halfway to finishing it, he says "it's looking good".
I was taught at school that many linking verbs (...
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Can a linking verb be followed by an adverb?
I read a line in a grammar book "at least the play reads well" in this sentence, the verb "reads" is a linking verb, so shouldn't the right word to use be "good" instead ...
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That is I vs That is me
I understand that after a linking verb, the noun should be in subject case. So why do we say "that is me" instead of "that is I" ? Is the former grammatically accurate?
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There are one "looks" and one "runs" without "and" in the position of verbs. Is this correct?
I see a sentence in the The Economist 202307015:
Each chart in British public policy looks roughly the same,
runs a joke among the country’s wonk-class.
looks is a linking verb and runs is a verb. ...
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"prove to be painful" vs "prove painful", any difference?
What should I put here, "The learning process proved to be painful or just The learning process proved painful" ? Is there any difference ?
BTW, the question is to fill in the blank with ...
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Why is "emerged" in "She emerged from the divorce a stronger person" marked only as intransitive but not as linking?
All dictionaries which mark their verbs with the labels: "transitive", "intransitive" and "linking", for some reason, don't write that the verb "emerge" has a ...
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Let me (be) free/loose
Proceeding from the internet, I inferred the following thing:
(1) Let me free. — idiomatic
(2) Let me be free. — idiomatic
(3) Let me loose. — idiomatic
(4) Let me be loose. — unidiomatic
That is, &...
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Can a subject and its complement be of different numbers?
Can a subject and a subject complement be of different numbers, i.e. one of them is plural and the other is singular?
To check this, I came up with some examples
(where, as I understand, "are&...
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Can the verb "end up" be used as a linking verb?
Can the verb "end up" be a linking verb? E.g. "he ended up homeless"
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than (it) seems/appears
(1a) These boxes contain more toys than it seems possible. — as far as I know, it's correct
(1b) These boxes contain more toys than seems possible. — is it correct?
(2a) These boxes contain more toys ...
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Role of like in copular/linking verbs
I'm struggling to make some distinctions regarding copular, or linking, verbs.
She sounds like a lawyer.
She has become like her mother.
She looks like a princess.
#1: Is "sounds" an ...
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“The meeting is canceled.“ “Who told you that?“
“The meeting is canceled.“ “Who told you that?“
“The meeting was canceled.“ “Who told you that?“
What's the exact meaning of "The meeting is canceled."?
As a non-native English speaker, I ...
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"it turned out a gain" VS "it turned out to be a gain"
Which of the two is correct?:
(A) I supposed it to be a loss, but it turned out a gain.
(B) I supposed it to be a loss, but it turned out to be a gain.
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linking verbal clauses with conjunctions
Why is the case that the below sentence has three verbs that weren't linked with any conjunction? Also, why use the comma prior to the last clause.
I don't know exactly why this sentence is structured ...
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Why does the writer use 'is' twice in a row here?
Why does the writer use 'is' twice in a row here?
Either the issuer's place of business where the undertaking is issued is located in a country that has adopted the Convention, or under international ...
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"To Be" conjugation with Inversions?
Looking at the TV was/were John and Jane.
Should "to be" be conjugated in the singular or plural form? My first thought was that it should agree with Looking at the TV; after all it comes ...
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Combining clauses with different linking verbs by conjunction and leaving out the subject
A TOEFL book claims that I'm not allowed to write like this, for example the conjunction "and" :
I still have leftovers on the table and am cooking it later.
Why is it incorrect? Does that ...
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"The angry man" vs "The man is angry"
It seems like existential linking verbs behave like determiners, in that they reference a noun, so I'm curious if there is any actual difference between these 'types' of references.
For example is ...
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Can we split the (will + linking verb) in a passive form and put an adverb between them?
I was writing this on my Facebook post:
... it will certainly be accepted
A friend of mine corrected me it should have been written like this:
... it certainly will be accepted
However, I don't ...
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Is the past participle a linking verb in these examples of passive constructions?
A man called Jack opened the door.
The man was called Jack.
In these two examples, 'called' is a past-participle, and the proper noun 'Jack' is a subject complement that renames the noun 'man'.
This ...
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Does including 'to be' after linking verbs sounds informal?
Here I provide the excerpt I took from Advanced Grammar In Use:
Before a noun we include to be when the noun tells us what the
subject is, but often leave it out when we give our opinion of the
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When is 'to be' an auxillary or linking verb?
He was broken.
He was broken by the news.
In the first example, is 'was' a linking verb or an auxiliary verb? The second example shows that adding a prepositional phrase ('by the news') evidences ...
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Would "is" be considered a linking or transitive verb in this situation?
Suppose I had the following sentence:
The apple is on the tree.
"On the tree" is a prepositional phrase. Therefore, the verb is cannot be linking anything back to the subject (apple). ...
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SVC sentence structure confusion [closed]
I have read about SVC sentences like "we all feel sorry for him".
Can I also write: The trunk wrinkled old and dry.
As wrinkle is not a linking verb so is it incorrect? Is there any other ...
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They seemed a nice couple [duplicate]
They seemed a nice couple.
They seemed to be a nice couple.
They seemed like a nice couple.
Are they all correct?
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"I cannot account for my (be) so talkative. It's just my character"
I cannot account for my (be) so talkative. It's just my character.
What form of verb "be" should be used in this sentence? I can't come up with anything.
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Is "To be" a linking or auxiliary verb?
I have been wondering about this question for a long time but I was hesitant to ask as it seemed a very small one. But I must ask it now:
Is the verb To be linking verb or auxiliary verb(helping verb)...
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word order don't correspond the meaning of a sentence
I can't seem to get started today
If we read from the left to the right then we consecutively get following equals:
I can't (to do smth)
where "to do smth" is "seem to get started ...
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How to convert "my only options are..." to a question?
Suppose we have a sentence like this:
My only options are to either do X or do Y.
How do I convert this to a question? If I follow the "standard rule", the question becomes:
Are my only ...
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What the usage and role of "to be" in below sentence?
What the usage and grammatical role of "to be" in below sentence?
It rained this morning but it has turned out to be a lovely day.
What's the difference between the above sentence and ...
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felt still more gloomily
The following extract is from Frankenstein. Does anyone know why the adverb gloomily is used after the linking verb felt?
Yet, as I drew nearer home, grief and fear again overcame me. Night also ...
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Why do we use "be" with "will", instead of "is" and "are"?
I want to know from a grammatical point of view why do we use be with will instead of using is and are. For example:
Jack will be skydiving tomorrow. Correct
Jack will is skydiving tomorrow. ...
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Is "there" a subject?
A clause usually has a subject and a verb. For example, in this sentence,
"Joe loves baseball".
"Joe" is the subject, "loves" is the verb.
How about "there is"?
There's someone on the phone for ...
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why do we use "of" here, this structure can be repeat after other verbs, but "to be"?
In some sentence, we see that the "of" is used, do you think the use of it is need? for example:
1- It is of the utmost/highest importance,
2- those built were of interest,
3- cooperation ...
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What clause elements are in "That doesn't sound like him."?
I've been struggling to analyse this sentence in terms of its clause elements.
That doesn't sound like him.
What I mean by the clause elements are the following: verb, subject, object, subject ...
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Which linking verb to use with countable and uncountable nouns
Here is my example:
"Cloud phone solutions work over the internet, so the only on-site hardware you would ever need (is/are) the phones."
Hardware is uncountable, but phones is countable. Is the ...
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Linking verb followed by a verb
According to The British Council description, links-verbs are followed by either a noun or an adjective.
In the following sentence, "smiling" is a verb, and as I see it, "is" acts as a linking verb.
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After linking verb whether adjectives or adverbs
I know after linking verb, Adjectives should be used, not adverbs. For example I'am fine (not well, as WELL is an adverb). But how you explain the following sentences ,
I'm abroad.
I'm home.
I'm ...
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Different Usage of adjectives
Sometimes I come across sentences where adjectives is used and act like adverbs (?) . Usually they are placed at the end of the sentences. I understand them perfectly but grammatical structure seems ...
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linking verbs followed by noun or noun phrase?
At my school I have learned - linking verbs are followed by adjectives but the following sentences confuse me.
He is a good teacher.
He became headmaster.
She is a nurse.
In the above ...
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Adjective preposition phrase vs adverb preposition phrase
I'm good
Chicago is on the northest tip of Illinois.
I'm confuse, in first sentence, "Good" as an adjective, modify subject "I", or linking verb 'IS". If "Good" modify subject "I", then what the ...
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Is asleep in "to fall asleep" an adverb?
DK school dictionary says "asleep" in to fall asleep is an adverb.
Yet, according to https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/asleep
"Asleep" in to fall asleep is an ...
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"Often" as complement of BE
Often is an adverb according to Oxford Dictionaries Online.
ADVERB
1 Frequently; many times.
'he often goes for long walks by himself'
'how often do you have your hair cut?'
1.1 In ...
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