Linking Verbs

1. LINKING VERBS
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2. What are linking verbs?
Linking verbs describe the subject of the
sentence. They do not show any action;
rather, they describe the subject by
connecting it (“link it”) with the rest of a
sentence.
Mary is a lawyer
Subject + linking verb + complement
Example:

3. Unlike action verbs, there is only a
very short list of words that are true
linking verbs.
 All forms of the verb “be” (Be,
am, is, are, was, were, has been)
 Become
 Seem.
The following, are always linking verbs:

4. EXAMPLES
John is a teacher
Subject + linking verb + complement
The climate became warmer
Subject + linking verb + complement
Ana seems nice
Subject + linking verb + complement
These sentences show that a linking verb can connect the subject with a
number of sentence elements. Teacher is a noun; warmer and nice are
adjectives. All of them give us more information about what these subjects
are, have become, or seem to be

5. There are other verbs that
can be both linking verbs
and action verbs.
All of the sense verbs:
 Look
 Smell
 Touch
 Appear
 Sound
 Taste
 Feel
Examples of verbs that can be linking verbs
and action verbs:
Others:
 Turn
 Remain
 Prove
 Grow

6. MORE EXAMPLES
 Pierce seems to be sad.
 The fruit smells spoiled.
 Beethoven was an amazing composer.
 Izzy looks ill.
 The first cup of coffee every morning tastes great.
 Everyone was tired after the bike race.
 Marcia grew to be very tall.