Difference between lexical and grammatical verbs with emphasis on linking verbs

1. LINKING VERBS

2. What is a link?
 . Anything serving to connect one part or thing
with another; a bond or tie.

3. What is a Linking Verb?
 A linking verb links its subject to a word in the
predicate.

4. Two Types of Linking
Verbs
To be
Verbs that Express
Condition

5. is
wer
e
bein
g
are
bee
n
am was
be
Forms to
Be

6. Examples
Michael is a football fan.
The dogs are barking
angrily at the cat.
All the kittens were playful.

7. Verbs that Express
Condition
 Appear
 Become
 Feel
 Grow
 Look
 Remain
 Seem
 Smell
 Sound
 Taste

8. Example:
 Everybody remained silent for a
few minutes.
 She sounded very surprised
when she heard the news.
 The play seems absurd to me.

9. How can you tell when they are
action verbs and when they are
linking verbs?
 If you can substitute am, is, or are and the sentence still
sounds logical, you have a linking verb on your hands.
 Example:
My dog Oreo felt the wet grass beneath her paws
My dog Oreo feels depressed after seven straight days of rain.
The soup tasted good.
I tasted the food.

10.  The squid eyeball stew tasted good.
 Sylvia tasted the spicy squid eyeball stew .
 The eggs smell rotten.
 I smell the delightful aroma from the kitchen.
Linking Verb
Some verbs can serve as either action or linking
verbs.
Action Verb
Linking
Verb
Action Verb

11. .
to be
to become
to seem
Always Linking
Verbs

12. Example:
 He became suspicious when he saw the safe
was open.
 The test questions seemed simple as a result
of my studying.
 Lightning can be dangerous.

13. Subject Verb Agreement.
 Make the verb agree with the subject stated
before the linking verb, not with the noun
complement that follows the verb.
 Singular subject - Singular verb
 Plural subject - Plural verb
 Her passion is rare books.
 Rare books are her passion.
 The cat is brown.
 The cats are brown.

14. Let’s practice
 Linking Verbs: Underline the Linking Verb in each
sentence.
 The big computer is very fast.
 The orange block is at the bottom of the stack.
 The teacher seemed confused by the question.
 The brown suitcase looks heavy.
 My dog’s fur smells bad all the time.
 There are too many fish in this fish tank.
 There is an old tree in the back yard.
 These jeans are too small for me now.
 This software is not compatible with my computer.
 I was late for work today.

15. Lets practice
For each given sentence, you must fill in the blank with a linking
verb (is, was, were, are, am).
 Answer: were
 1. We ______________ going to the game tonight.
 5. You _________ talking too much in the class.
 10. They __________ going to the dance, but it got canceled.
 11. The bases ____________ full.
 12. The outfielder ________________ a great player.
 13. The three players ___________________ friends.
 14. The crowd _________________ very loudly.
 15. The students ___________________ happy