A full-dress review of the kinds of verbs in English – 4

[Joe Carillo]

How current linking verbs and resulting linking verbs work - 2

Last week, in the first part of this review of linking verbs, we discussed the two groups of linking verbs in English: the current linking verbs, which indicate a state of the subject, and the resulting linking verbs, which indicate that the verb complement’s role is a result of the process described in the verb. To make a sentence complete, linking verbs in both groups must be followed by a complement, which may either be a subject complement, which follows the subject-verb-complement (SVC) sentence pattern, or an adverbial complement, which follows the subject-verb-adverbial (SVA) pattern.

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HOW LINKING VERBS FUNCTION IN A SENTENCE

We have already taken up how linking verbs function when they are followed by a subject complement, so we will now proceed to how they function when followed by an adverbial complement.

In the subject-verb-adverbial or SVA pattern, the verb “be” acts as the main linking verb between the subject and the adverbial, the most common of which are place adverbials and time adverbials. Examples of place adverbials:  “Your bedroom is in the basement.” “Their cousins are in Laguna.” And examples of time adverbials: “The management meeting is at 7:00 tonight.” “The reunion will be at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.” Notice that this pattern is the normal, day-to-day way of describing the state or condition of things.

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THE LINKING VERB “BE” FOLLOWED BY A PLACE ADVERBIAL
OR TIME ADVERBIAL

                         
But we must take note that creative writers are under pressure to veer away from such passive usage and to use more active verbs, like “lies” instead of “is” in the first sentence (“Your bedroom lies in the basement.”), “live” instead of “are” in the second (“Their cousins live in Laguna.”), “begins” instead of “is” in the third (“The management meeting begins at 7:00 tonight.”), and “starts” instead of “will be” in the third (“The reunion starts at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.”).

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SOME ACTION VERBS, LIKE "TURN," WORK AS A LINKING VERB
DEPENDING ON THE INTENDED SENSE

Now that we know how linking verbs work, we can now discuss current linking verbs and resulting linking verbs in more detail. As you may have already noticed, the verb “be” in all its forms is the unchallenged star of the linking verbs. It holds a special place in the English language because it is an all-around—some say overused—verb that can function as the main verb of the sentence, instead of just acting as an auxiliary verb.

Look at the ways it “be” in its various conjugations works: “I am at home evenings from 6:30.” “This is a flawed contract.” “Her dresses were very flashy.” “The workers have been idle since mid-afternoon.” “The store inventory will be in the last day of March.” “We would be ready if doesn’t rain this evening.”

And as mentioned in last week's column, “be” is by no means the only linking verb in the English language. There are 11 common current linking verbs in all, including “be,” and seven resulting linking verbs, for a total of 18. The current linking verbs are the following: “appear,” “be,” “feel,” “lie,” “look,” “remain,” “seem,” “smell,” “sound,” “stay,” and “taste.” The resulting linking verbs, on the other hand, are ‘become,” “get,” “grow,” “fall,” “prove,” “run,” and “turn.”

You must already be very familiar with them, so we will only give a few examples of how they are used. Current linking verbs: “Their suggestion seems fishy.” “Adele appeared happy when she came out of the room.” “That young Filipina singer looks elegant in that emerald satin dress.” Resulting linking verbs: “The toad became a prince.” “Justine fell in love in autumn.” “The strategy proved eminently useful.”

As you can see, linking verbs are always at your beck and call when you don’t need a hyperactive verb, or when you are more interested in describing an unfolding process rather than its consequences. So, use them to make sure that there are no loose ends in your sentences.

(Next: What sets apart auxiliary verbs from linking verbs - 5)   November 15, 2018  

This essay, 1,117th of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the November 8, 2018 issue (print edition only) of The Manila Times, © 2018 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.