Question posted by Joe Verzosa on the Forum's Facebook Gateway (August 17, 2017): Good morning, sir! I just want to ask how "be" verbs like "has," and "have" function in a sentence? Are they considered linking verbs? In this sentence, "My best friend has a new car," is "has" considered a linking verb?
My reply to Joe Verzosa:You asked if 'has" in the sentence you presented, "My best friend
has a new car," is considered a linking verb. The answer is "no," it isn't. It's a transitive verb--the present third person singular form of "have," which means "to hold or maintain as a possession, privilege, or entitlement." Of course, "have" also functions as a verbal auxiliary that's used with the past participle to form the present perfect, past perfect, or future perfect, as in "
has gone home," "
had already eaten," and "
will have finished dinner by then." Keep in mind at all times that "have" isn't a linking verb, unlike "be" and its various conjugations "is," "are," and "were." Check out my Forum posting,
"Distinguishing between main verbs, auxiliary verbs, and linking verbs," to know precisely why.