Section outline

  • Linking Verbs

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    Linking Verbs are verbs that simply link the subject & it's complement.

    Examples:

    1. She is a teacher.
    2. You look tired.

    Here, the verbs 'is' & 'look' simply connect the subject and it's complement.

    Features:

    1. Linking verbs don't show any direct or indirect action.
    2. They are the main verbs in the sentence.
    3. They are are also called "state of being verbs" as they describe 'what the subject is or the subject's being' rather than 'what the subject is doing'. 

    * To know more about subject complement, click here.

    • Linking verbs consists of:

      1.  All forms of ‘be’ verbs.

      Examples:

      1. The sky is blue.
      2. The show was excellent.

      The 'be' verbs, act as either linking or auxiliary verbs, depends upon their use in the sentence.

      Example:

      Tom is playing with the ball.

      Here, 'is' is an auxiliary verb, as it is helping the action verb 'play'.

      2. Sensory linking verbs.

      They link the subject to its complement by using physical senses like smell, taste, look, sound, feel, etc.

      Examples:

      1. The food smells good.
      2. I feel happy.
      3. This juice tastes sour.
      3. Verbs describing state of being. 

      These are verbs like 'seem appear, become, etc.’ which describe how the subject is perceived rather than stating an actual fact or truth.

      Examples:

      1. They seem so happy together.
      2. Jane became impatient.
      3. She appears sad.

  • Phrasal Verbs

    Phrasal Verb is a group of words which have a verb & a adverb or preposition.

    Features:

    1. The words that are used in phrasal verbs act together.
    2. They form a  new single verb.
    3. They have a new meaning which is different from the meaning of the individual words.

    Examples:

    1. He broke the window.
    2. Our car broke down on the highway. 

    In the first example, the verb 'broke' means damaged.  

    In the second example, the phrasal verb 'broke down' means the car is not moving now and needs repair.

    It is combination of broke (verb) + down (preposition). 

    Some more Examples:

    1. Please take off your shoes.
    2. Children, come back for the next game.
    3. Sam gave up all hopes to recover.

  • Summary

    In this course, we learnt about:

    1. Linking verbs as main verbs.
    2. Difference between linking & auxiliary verbs.
    3. Different linking verbs & their use.
    4. How phrasal verbs are formed.
    5. Uses of phrasal verbs.

    In the next course, we will learn one more major type of verb, the non-finite verbs.