LINKING VERB

A.      Definition of Linking Verb

According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Linking verb is “A verb such as be or become that connects a subject with the adjective or noun (called the complement) that describes it: in ‘She becomes angry’, the verb ‘became’ is the linking verb.”[1]

According to Pyle and Munoz, they state that linking verbs are unlike most verb, these do not show action and linking verbs must be modified by adjective, not adverbs. [2]

Suryadi and Junaida explain that adjective can be used as predicate. Predicate is located after the inchoative verb (become, come, get), verb (smell, taste, fell), and verb (seem, look, marry, die).[3]

From the explanation above it can be concluded that linking verb is a verb  such as be  and other than be (seem, look, come, get, etc.) that do not show an action and connect a subject to adjective or noun.

B.       The Formula of Linking Verb

According to whishon and burk, they explain that there are three sentence patterns with linking verbs:

1.       The first pattern is Noun+ Linking Verb+ Adjective.

 “In this pattern, a linking verb connects a subject to a complement which tell something about the subject. The complement in this pattern is an adjective.”[4]

 The common linking verb is be. However other verb can be used as linking verb such as become, remain, stay, appear, seem, sound, feel, look, smell, taste.

The examples are as follow:

1.      Verb be

Noun	Linking verb	adjective
Water	Is	necessary
Floods	can be	harmful
Cindy	was	Poor
Natural resources	Are	precious
Sally	Will be	happy
I	Am	pleased

2.      Verb other than be

Noun	Linking verb	adjective
They	remained	sad
You	Seem	happy
She	Feels	afraid
This flowers	Smells	sweet
Dani	Looks	cheerful
The soup	Tastes	good

2.      The second pattern is Noun+ Linking Verb+ Adverbial.

“Only time and place adverbials are used in this pattern”.[5]  Both time and place adverbials occur in the same sentence, adverbials of place go before adverbial of time.

The example are as follow:

Noun	Linking verb	Adverbial
Doni	is not	here now
The office	Is	there
She	must be	There soon
He	should be	in time for dinner
He	Was	here yesterday

3.      The third pattern is Noun+ Linking Verb+ Noun. “The complement in this pattern ia a noun or pronoun, and is often called the subjective complement or the predicate nominative.[6]

The examples are as follow:

Noun	Linking verb	Noun
My name	Is	Annisa
I	am	a student
She	will become	a doctor
Richard	smelled	the cookies
Miss Janic	Is	a lawyer
He	tastes	pizza

Jim miller adds that another construction of copula (linking verb) is Noun Phrase + copula + Prepositional Phrase. “This construction is used in order to state where some entity is located”.[7]

The examples are as follow:

Noun	Linking verb	Prepositional phrase
Fiona	Is	in German
Many people	Were	in the park
Tarzan	Is	in the tree
Miss Janic	Is	behind the house
Some paper	Was	on the table

 

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[1] As Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010, p. 867.

[2] Michael A. Pyle, and Mary Ellen Munoz, Test of English as a Foreign Language: PREPARATION GUIDE, John Wiley & sons (SEA) Pte. Ltd, Singapore, 1991, p. 107.

[3] Suryadi dan Junaida, Complete English Grammar, Cetakan IV: Edisi Revisi, Pustaka Pelajar, Yoyakarta, 2011, p. 114.

[4] Gerrge E. Wishon and Julia M. Burks, Let’s Write English: Revised Edition, Litton Educational Publishing, New York, 1980, p. 69.

[5] Ibid., p. 72.

[6] Ibid., p. 78.

[7] Jim Miller, An Introduction to English Syntax, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002, p. 31.