Complete English Grammar Rules_ Examples, Exceptions, Exercises, and Everything You Need to Master Proper Grammar ( PDFDrive )-253

Prévia do material em texto

•	“They	have	proven	valuable	allies.”
Linking	verbs	vs.	action	verbs
The	verbs	be,	seem,	and	become	are	always	used	as	linking	verbs	(except	when
be	is	an	auxiliary	verb,	as	we	looked	at	already).	However,	the	other	linking
verbs	all	have	the	capacity	to	behave	as	action	verbs	in	a	sentence.	Sometimes	it
is	tricky	to	know	whether	a	verb	is	functioning	as	a	linking	verb	or	as	an	action
verb,	but	there	are	ways	that	we	can	be	sure.
Checking	the	predicate
The	predicate	of	a	linking	verb	is,	by	definition,	an	adjective,	noun,	noun	phrase,
or	pronoun	that	directly	describes,	renames,	or	re-identifies	the	subject	of	the
clause.
If	we	want	to	see	if	a	verb	is	functioning	as	a	linking	verb,	we	can	simply	check
whether	the	predicate	that	follows	is	describing	the	subject.	If	it	is,	then	it	is	a
linking	verb;	if	it	is	not,	then	it	is	functioning	as	an	action	verb.	For	example:
•	“He	looked	unwell	yesterday.”	(Linking	verb—the	predicate	unwell	yesterday
describes	the	subject	of	the	clause,	he.)
•	“He	looked	quickly	to	the	right.”	(Action	verb—the	predicate	quickly	to	the
right	describes	the	action	of	the	verb.)
•	“I	hope	you	get	better	soon.”	(Linking	verb—the	predicate	better	soon
describes	the	subject	of	the	clause,	you.)
•	“Would	you	please	get	a	glass	of	water	for	me?”	(Action	verb—the	predicate	a
glass	of	water	is	the	direct	object	of	the	verb.)
Replacing	the	verb	with	be
If	we	are	still	not	certain	about	the	kind	of	verb	we’re	dealing	with,	we	can	also
try	replacing	the	verb	in	question	with	be.	Because	be	is	only	a	linking	verb
when	it	functions	on	its	own,	the	resulting	sentence	will	only	make	sense	if	the
original	verb	was	also	a	linking	verb.
Let’s	look	at	the	two	sets	of	examples	above,	this	time	replacing	the	verb	in	each
case	with	be:
•	“He	looked	unwell	yesterday.”	
•	“He	was	unwell	yesterday.”	(The	sentence	makes	sense,	so	the	verb	looked	was
a	linking	verb.)