Real Grammar - Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber 2009

Linking Verbs
Unit 8 I felt good about it

What have you learned from your grammar textbook?

Linking verbs can be followed by an adjective. The adjective describes the subject of the sentence.

Linking verbs can describe (1) a state of existence, or (2) a change to a new state:

1. He seems happy.

2. The weather became worse.

What does the corpus show?

A

The linking verb be is common in both conversation and writing. But otherwise, some linking verbs are preferred in conversation; others in writing. Here is a list of the most common linking verbs used either in conversation or in writing:

* See Unit 4 about the meanings of get.

B

Most linking verbs describe specific meanings, and as a result they occur with a particular set of adjectives:

Activities

1 Notice in context: Read the conversation and the paragraph from an academic text. Circle the linking verbs, except be

1. Conversation: About a friend who is sick.

Dana: I saw Janelle the other day. She got extremely sick. I mean she stays in bed all the time. She should go to the hospital.

Lori: Really? I think she looks good. I saw her yesterday. Was she pretending when I saw her?

Dana: Yeah, she’s very good at pretending. She’s actually really sick right now.

2. Academic writing: About school exams.

According to the traditional pattern of school examinations, there has been a separation of the sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics. The new plan, on the other hand, is more concerned with problem-solving across all the sciences. The final phase of academic school examinations, which differs from vocational examinations, seems likely to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.

2 Analyze discourse: Answer the following questions. Follow the instructions.

1. What is the subject of each of the linking verbs you circled in the conversation and paragraph above? Underline each subject.

2. What adjective is connected to each subject by the linking verb? Double underline each adjective.

3 Practice conversation: Read each situation and follow the instructions.

1. Robert and Daniel are at home after picking up their sister Lauren from the airport after her flight was cancelled. Complete their conversation with feel, get, go, and look. Each verb will be used once. When you are finished, practice the conversation with two partners.

Robert: Lauren, are you cold in here? Let’s turn the thermostat up a little bit. I just don’t want us to ... sick.

Daniel: What did you think when you found out that your flight was cancelled?

Lauren: Oh, for some reason, I was hardly surprised. 1 guess I was just expecting something to ... wrong.

Daniel: Uh huh. Well, you ... tired.

Lauren: Yeah, I ... all right. I just don’t want to go back to the airport tomorrow.

2. With a partner go to a public area, like an airport or a park, and observe the people there. Choose a I couple of people. Describe their behavior to your partner and make comments about how they might be feeling, using feel, get, go, and look.

Example

[At a library] That girl with her head on the table looks really tired.

4 Practice writing: Look at the pictures. Write a paragraph related to each picture. Use become, remain, and seem with common adjectives.