English Grammar Understanding the Basics - Evelyn P. Altenberg, Robert M. Vago 2010
Lesson 9: Action verbs and linking verbs
Unit 2: Verbs
Part I: Kinds of words
The verbs we have looked at so far, such as go, sing, and revise, all indicate actions. In fact, they’re called action verbs. However, there are other verbs which don’t indicate actions. These are most commonly called linking verbs. One example of such a verb is the word seem, as in the sentences, You seem tired, They’ve seemed busy lately. Don’t worry, though: seem still follows our should or to rules: Harry should seem surprised at times; You don’t want to seem arrogant, do you? So even though seem isn’t indicating an action, it’s easy to identify it as a verb. Other examples of linking verbs are resemble and become. Linking verbs express a relationship between the noun or pronoun that comes before the linking verb and whatever follows it. (For pronouns, see Unit 7.)
Test yourself 9.1
Which of the following words are verbs? See if each sounds like a complete unit when you put the word here: should ... or to ... . Check the appropriate column. All the verbs will be linking verbs. You may have to put some in their base form to be sure.
Getting started (answers on p. 42)
1. tasted
2. friendly
3. shady
4. be
5. got
More practice (answers on the website)
6. look
7. huge
8. seven
9. ocean
10. sound
Test yourself 9.2
Underline the verbs in these sentences. Test each word to see if it sounds like a complete unit when you put the word here: should ... or to ... . All the verbs will be linking verbs. You may have to put some in their base form to be sure.
Sample: She looked happy.
Getting started (answers on p. 42)
1. Barry will feel awful about it.
2. Melissa resembles her mother.
3. Zack sounded extremely angry.
4. The fish tasted undercooked.
5. You were not home early.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. The final exam proved di/cult.
7. That dinner smells so good!
8. The firefighters remain at the station all night long.
9. They stayed indoors throughout their ordeal.
10. By noon the weather turned nice.
The most common linking verb is the verb be, often called the copula. You can see different forms of the verb be in the following sentences.
1. I am happy.
2. You are happy.
3. He is happy.
4. I was happy.
5. You were happy.
6. I have been happy.
7. He is being happy.
Notice how different these forms are from the base form of be. In fact, be is the most irregular verb in the English language: it has more forms than any other verb. But you can still use the should or to test to identify be as a verb: You should be happy, They decided to be happy. For convenience, the forms of be are indicated in Quick tip 9.1.
Quick tip 9.1
The forms of the irregular verb be are: am, are, is, was, were, be, been, being.
Note that be and become are two different verbs. Here are the forms of become: become, becomes, became, becoming.
Test yourself 9.3
Underline the forms of be in each of the sentences below. Some sentences may contain more than one form of be.
Sample: It is a privilege to meet you.
Getting started (answers on p. 42)
1. Paul was in power at that moment.
2. They are absolutely correct in their thinking.
3. Your suitcases were in the overhead compartment during the flight.
4. Christina has been wanting to go to Europe for a long time.
5. What is wrong with being a good student?
More practice (answers on the website)
6. The situation is getting out of hand.
7. My niece wants to be a psychiatrist when she grows up.
8. The problem is being corrected as we speak.
9. History might be being made right now.
10. I am happy to show you around town.
Often, forms of the verb be are said and written as contractions, as in these sentences:
8. I’m happy. (verb = am)
9. He’s happy. (verb = is)
10. We’re happy. (verb = are)
11. He’s being happy. (verb = is)
These are all still sentences with be.
For more on the verb be, see Lessons 34 and 35.
Test yourself 9.4
Underline the forms of be in each of the sentences below. Some will be written as contractions.
Sample: It’s unusual to see rain at this time of the year.
Getting started (answers on p. 42)
1. They’re usually home by now.
2. Are you worried about anything?
3. I heard that the flight was late.
4. We’re honored by your presence.
5. It’s too bad that the Yankees lost last night.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. I think she’s my husband’s new boss.
7. The tyrant will certainly be accused of crimes against humanity.
8. You’re a real good friend.
9. I’m afraid to tell you the truth.
10. It has been far too long since we last saw each other.
Test yourself 9.5
Which of these words is a verb? See if it sounds like a complete unit when you put the word here: should ... or to ... . Check the appropriate column. Some of the verbs are linking verbs and some are action verbs. All the verbs will be in their base forms.
Getting started (answers on p. 42)
1. resemble
2. become
3. this
4. be
5. new
More practice (answers on the website)
6. although
7. search
8. grow
9. without
10. really
Test yourself 9.6
Which of these words is a verb? You may have to put some in their base forms in order to be sure.
Some are linking verbs.
Getting started (answers on p. 42)
1. appeared
2. attends
3. whenever
4. was
5. heard
More practice (answers on the website)
6. did
7. you
8. living
9. completes
10. eraser
Test yourself 9.7
Underline the verb in each of the following sentences. You may have to put some in their base forms and test each word with should or to in order to be sure of your answer. Each sentence has only one verb. The verbs in this exercise are all action verbs.
Sample: He bakes cookies for his son’s birthday.
Getting started (answers on p. 43)
1. The car spun out of control.
2. Don’t talk during the movie.
3. The doctor tied a strip of gauze around her hand.
4. Maxine spent too much money.
5. They saw the play last Sunday.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. Molly received a reply to her letter.
7. He ate on the stoop of the front porch.
8. Grandma held the kitten in her lap.
9. She never says anything.
10. They wash the windows regularly.
Test yourself 9.8
Identify the verb in each of the following sentences. You may have to put some in their base forms and test each word with should or to in order to be sure of your answer. Each sentence has only one verb. The verbs in this exercise will be either action or linking verbs.
Sample: Bridget spent hours in the dusty old bookstore.
Getting started (answers on p. 43)
1. That was the best meal in the world.
2. I understand your point.
3. Maybe they know each other well.
4. She is from Wisconsin.
5. Those flowers smell heavenly.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. It seemed late.
7. Johnny packed all our things.
8. Mother is always right about that.
9. She went down to the basement.
10. I felt wonderful about my decision.
How can you determine if a verb is being used as an action verb or a linking verb? There are a number of differences between them. One way is to think of a linking verb as an equal sign (=). For example:
12. Harry resembles his brother.
Harry = his brother.
13. You are bored.
You = bored.
14. That strange looking vegetable tastes awful.
That strange looking vegetable = awful.
Resembles, are, and tastes are each being used here as linking verbs.
Another way to identify a linking verb is to see if you can substitute a form of be for it, and leave the meaning basically the same. For example, take the sentence John seems interested in the conversation. We can substitute a form of be, specifically, is, for seems: John is interested in the conversation. Thus, seems is a linking verb in the sentence John seems interested in the conversation. Take a look at some more examples.
15. After a while, the hotel became dingy.
After a while, the hotel was dingy.
16. Annie and Janine look surprised.
Annie and Janine are surprised.
17. Although in his eighties, he remains youthful-looking. Although in his eighties, he is youthful-looking.
Thus, became, look, and remains are being used as linking verbs in these sentences. Remember that be and its forms can also be used as linking verbs. While Quick tip 9.2 below isn’t foolproof, it will usually help you identify whether a verb is an action or linking verb.
Quick tip 9.2
If you can substitute a form of be for a verb and the meaning of the sentence is basically the same, the verb is probably being used as a linking verb. The verb be and its forms are also linking verbs.
Another way to identify a linking verb is to see if you can substitute a form of the word seem for it, and leave the meaning basically the same. For example, in the sentence, The hot shower felt soothing, we can substitute a form of seem for felt, and leave the sentence largely unchanged: The hot shower seemed soothing. Note the following examples:
18a. After a while, the hotel became dingy.
18b. After a while, the hotel seemed dingy.
19a. Annie and Janine look surprised.
19b. Annie and Janine seem surprised.
20a. Although in his eighties, he remains youthful-looking.
20b. Although in his eighties, he seems youthful-looking.
Thus, became, look, and remains are being used as linking verbs in these sentences. Again, while Quick tip 9.3 below also isn’t foolproof, it will help you identify whether a verb is an action or linking verb.
Quick tip 9.3
If you can substitute a form of seem for a verb and the meaning of the sentence is basically the same, the verb is probably being used as a linking verb.
Test yourself 9.9
Decide if the underlined verbs in the sentences below are action or linking verbs. In this exercise, if it’s a form of be, it’s being used as a linking verb. If it’s not a form of be, use the be or seem substitution tests to see if the verb is being used as a linking verb.
Getting started (answers on p. 43)
1. The Czar was a person of high rank.
2. That dog barks a lot.
3. Mr. Kelly watched the traffic below his window.
4. You have been a terrific friend to me over the years.
5. I love the way the pillows feel so cozy in this hotel.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. Jimmy is always eager to answer any questions.
7. Finding a healthy meal on the menu proved easy.
8. He’s not as smart as he led me to believe.
9. We could hear the neighbors arguing for hours.
10. That sounds good to me.
Test yourself 9.10
Underline the verb in each sentence below and decide if it’s being used as an action or linking verb. In this exercise, if the verb is a form of be, it’s being used as a linking verb. If it’s not a form of be, use the be or seem substitution tests to see if the verb is being used as a linking verb.
Getting started (answers on p. 43)
1. They became best friends.
2. It is not nearly the same as mine.
3. Unfortunately, I forgot your birthday this year.
4. I went to the corner bakery. ... ...
5. Mark remains a legend to this day.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. Trigonometry bores me.
7. Babies often get hungry.
8. No one got a C on the midterm exam.
9. It’s much ado about nothing.
10. He made such a fuss over a minor mistake.
Hopefully you now have a good sense of the difference between action and linking verbs. However, there are some verbs that can be used as either an action verb or a linking verb, depending on the sentence that it’s in. Compare, for example, the following two sentences with feel:
21. Mary felt tired.
22. Mary felt the softness of the material.
In sentence 21, felt is being used as a linking verb. Note that Mary = tired; Mary is tired, Mary seems tired all make sense here. In sentence 22, Mary is doing an action. Also, one can’t think of it as: *Mary = the softness of the material, *Mary was the softness of the material, or *Mary seemed the softness of the material. That is, thinking of felt as an equal sign or substituting a form of be or seem for felt clearly doesn’t work here. Thus, in sentence 22, felt is being used as an action verb.
Here are a few more examples:
23. The dinner at that restaurant tasted delicious. (linking verb)
(The dinner at that restaurant was delicious.)
24. I tasted the soup. (action verb)
(*I was the soup.)
25. The flowers smelled heavenly. (linking verb)
(The flowers are heavenly.)
26. She smelled the fire before she saw it. (action verb)
(*She was the fire before she saw it.)
Test yourself 9.11
Underline the verb in each sentence below and decide if it’s being used as an action or linking verb.
Getting started (answers on p. 43)
1. He grew potatoes on his farm.
2. I looked at the mess all around me.
3. Stephen looks happy today.
4. In reality, exceptions rarely prove the rule.
5. Learning the rule proved difficult.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. I got nervous before my blood test.
7. I got a spasm in my arm.
8. The idea of having a pizza sounds real good.
9. Last night a burglar sounded the alarm.
10. You rarely become a star overnight.
To enhance your understanding
Another important difference between action and linking verbs is that a linking verb can be followed by just an adjective, while an action verb cannot:
27. She is tired. (Tired is an adjective.)
28. The mayor looked victorious. (Victorious is an adjective.)
29. *She washed tired.
30. *The mayor voted victorious.
As you can see, is and looked are linking verbs in these sentences; washed and voted are action verbs. However, since we haven’t yet talked about adjectives (see Lesson 16), just keep this in mind as another difference between the two types of verbs.
To further enhance your understanding
Compare the following two sentences:
31a. She looked careful. (careful is an adjective)
31b. She looked carefully. (carefully is an adverb)
Can you sense the difference? In sentence 31a the verb looked is a linking verb, followed by the adjective careful; the basic meaning of the sentence is She looked like she was a careful person. In contrast, in sentence 31b looked is an action verb, followed by the adverb carefully (adverbs will be discussed in Lesson 27); the basic meaning of this sentence is She looked around in a careful manner. Quick tip 9.4 identifies yet another difference between linking verbs and action verbs.
Quick tip 9.4
Linking verbs are followed or modified by adjectives, while action verbs are followed or modified by adverbs.
Test yourself 9.12 - Grand finale
If you can do this exercise, you’ve achieved a basic understanding of nouns and verbs.
In each sentence below, underline the nouns and put a squiggly line under each verb. Each sentence has only one verb but may have more than one noun.
Getting started (answers on p. 43)
1. Their daughter announced her engagement later.
2. The surgeon washed his hands.
3. The pianist was diligent.
4. The young boy gritted his teeth.
5. Her assistant is always late.
More practice (answers on the website)
6. The mayor explained his position.
7. The train came early.
8. Three other customers placed orders that day.
9. Her friend was helpful.
10. That hot meal tastes great.