Nouns
Verbs
Some verbs don't express action but help complete statements about the subject by describing or identifying it. These verbs are called linking verbs.
-
Diane is happy.
-
Clement feels hot.
-
Maria is a doctor.
-
The music sounds good.
The sentences don't tell you what Diane, Clement, Maria, and the music
did but rather what they
are. Linking verbs “link” their subjects to a classification, state of being, or quality. In the sentences above,
happy, hot, doctor, and
good are called
complements of the linking verbs. Table
1 lists common linking verbs.
|
Some of these verbs can be both linking and action verbs.
-
Clement felt hot. (linking verb)
-
Clement felt along the wall for the light switch. (action verb)
-
The dog smelled bad. (linking verb)
-
The dog smelled the man's boots. (action verb)
A quick way to tell whether a verb is functioning as a linking verb is to see whether you can replace it with a form of the verb to be and still have a reasonable sentence. For example, test the two sentences above by replacing smelled with was.
-
The dog was bad. (yes)
-
The dog was the man's boots. (no)
Linking verbs operate differently than action verbs. First, while action verbs are modified by adverbs, linking verbs are followed by adjectives.
-
This cheese smells strong.
-
not This cheese smells strongly.
Also, a pronoun following the linking verb to be should be in the subjective case rather than the objective case.
-
It was she.
-
not It was her.
