Linking Verbs

Who could forget the time when one needed a person to serve as a “bridge” to another person or to something? Also, people have relatives and they are connected by their immediate family members to these relatives. For example, a person is related or “linked” to his/her grandfather through his/her mother or father. Thus, the link is the parent for this instance.

The same is true with verbs for there are the so-called “linking verbs.” These linking verbs are considered to be the part of the sentence or phrase which “implies state of being or condition for the subject, [and] not action” (“Linking Verbs”). To put it more clearly, the linking verb is included in a sentence to connect two different parts of the sentence. In addition to this, the linking verb tries to connect the subject to the parts of the sentence to which it is related (“Action Verbs and Linking Verbs”).

In our previous example of relatives and families, an analogy may be made between the parents and the linking verbs for the two seek to connect two different things or persons. Examples of linking verbs include “am, is, are, was, were, has been, are being, might have, been, etc” which are forms of the verb “be,” “become,” and “seem” and all of these are considered to be always linking verbs in their sense (“The Linking Verb”).

It is easy to identify the linking verbs for without these, there would be lesser thought to the sentence if none at all. Taking this statement as an example, “The blue sky is my source of inspiration in finishing my painting” would show that –is serves as the linking verb. It links the blue sky to the phrase “source of inspiration.” When one is given such sentence, it would be very easy to discern that it is the blue sky is the source of inspiration because of the inking verb. Imagine deleting the linking verb for the statement. It might give a general and vague idea that may be understood by some but can not entirely be discerned.

The linking verb may be used for three instances, which is to link the subject with a noun, a pronoun, or an adjective (“Linking Verbs”). An example of a linking verb that connects the subject with a noun is “Ana is a queen of her own dreams.” Could you identify the subject and the noun? Indeed, Ana is the subject and the word queen is the noun to which the subject, Ana, is connected. Going to the next, which is connecting the subject to a pronoun, a statement that could be used as an example would be “The big mansion down the road is his.”

In that statement, the big mansion is connected to the pronoun “his” and this shows that the big mansion is owned by the man referred to in the statement. Lastly, the linking verb is used to connect the subject to the adjective which it is related to. For example, “The steps she made towards the aisle were as graceful as ever.” The subject here is the word “steps” and the linking verb is “were” and this is connected to the adjective “graceful.”

Aside from discussing the purpose of the linking verb, it is also important to take note of when the action occurred to be able to place the correct linking verb.

Linking verbs are important in constructing sentences with thought. In one whole page of words, it could be seen that linking verbs play an important role in weaving the ideas together and to show the relationships between the two.

Never forsake the usefulness of the linking verb for, though it may only be a few words, it surely makes the difference for the whole thought.

Works Cited

The Linking Verb. Robin L. Simmons. 23 March 2008 [http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/linkingverb.htm].

Action Verbs and Linking Verbs. 28 April 2002. Gallaudet University, Washington, DC. 23 March 2008 [http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/grammar/actionlinking.htm].

Linking Verbs. Keelee Weinhold. 23 March 2008 [http://grammar.uoregon.edu/verbs/linking.html].