Author Topic: Is "has" a linking verb in "My best friend has a new car"?  (Read 2128 times)

Joe Carillo

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Is "has" a linking verb in "My best friend has a new car"?
« on: August 18, 2017, 03:17:24 PM »
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.