To Be as a Linking Verb
Parts of Speech
Words are categorized into the different parts of speech based on their grammatical features, function and position a sentence.
The traditional parts of speech are the noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection.
| Nouns | Pro- nouns |
Verbs | Adj. | Adverbs | Prep. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cat | I | be | big | quickly | in |
| apple | you | eat | good | suddenly | at |
| house | we | talk | hot | well | to |
| computer | they | sleep | new | too | by |
| student | he | live | cheap | slowly | on |
| Maria | she | like | easy | carefully | for |
| friend | it | have | beautiful | never | with |
| New York | me | laugh | fast | quietly | from |
| politics | us | think | green | also | under |
| freedom | them | feel | smart | always | behind |
Linking (or copulative) Verbs
Linking verbs (or copulative verbs), connect a subject with a predicate noun or adjective. The noun or adjective help define or describe the subject. Linking verbs have little meaning of their own.
Be is the most common linking verb (other linking verbs include seem, become, feel, taste, look, smell, sound, and turn).
Sentence Structure with Be as a Linking Verb
(+) Subject + be + predicate noun; adjective.
(-) Subject + be not + predicate noun; adjective.
| Forms of be: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being |
Be takes on different forms depending its subject and tense.
Examples of Be with am, is, are
• I am a drummer.
• You are very funny.
• He is the captain of the ship.
• I am not tired.
• They’re not from Manchester. They’re from Liverpool.
• She isn’t my relative; she’s a neighbor.
