Action Verbs and Linking
Verbs
What are ACTION verbs?
An action verb is a verb that describes
an action, like run, jump,
kick, eat,
break, cry,
smile, or
think. |
When using action verbs, the sentence structure
will be: |
SUBJECT
--->
|
ACTION VERB
--->
|
THE REST OF THE
SENTENCE
|
(noun)
|
(verb)
|
(adjective, adverb, noun, complement, or nothing)
|
|
Here are some examples of action verbs in sentences. |
Greg
is kicking the ball now. |
The action verb is
kicking. It describes what
Greg is doing. |
The
wind blows constantly in Chicago. |
The action verb is
blows. It describes what the
wind does. |
He
accepted my apology. |
The action verb is
accepted. It describes what
'he' did. |
What
are LINKING verbs?
A linking verb is a verb that links
(connects) the subject of the sentence to information about that subject. Linking verbs
do not describe action. |
When using linking verbs, the sentence structure will be:
|
SUBJECT
--->
|
LINKING VERB
--->
|
INFORMATION ABOUT
THE SUBJECT
|
(noun)
|
(verb)
|
(adjective, noun, or complement)
|
|
Some verbs are
ALWAYS linking verbs because they never describe an action.
Other verbs can be linking verbs in some sentences and action verbs
in other sentences.
The following
three verbs are ALWAYS linking verbs:
|
to
be (is, am, are, was, were, has been, have been, had been,
is being, are being, was being, will have been, etc.) |
to become (become, becomes, became, has become, have become,
had become, will become, will have become, etc.) |
to seem (seemed, seeming, seems, has seemed, have seemed,
had seemed, is seeming, are seeming, was seeming, were seeming, will
seem) |
Here
are some examples of linking verbs that are ALWAYS linking verbs in sentences:
|
“The
ball is red.” |
'Is'
is a linking verb that connects the subject, ball,
to information about that subject (that it is
red). |
“The
children are smart.” |
'Are'
is a linking verb that connects the subject, children,
to information about that subject (that they are
smart). |
“The
child will be tall five years
from now.” |
'Will
be' is the linking verb connecting 'child'
to the fact that he will be 'tall five years from
now.' |
“The
cat seems fine.” |
'Seems'
links the subject, cat, with information
about the cat (that it is fine). |
“The
dog became thin after his
surgery.” |
'Became'
links the subject, the dog, with information
about him (that he became thin). |
Verbs
that can be both ACTION and LINKING verbs
There
are verbs that can
be linking verbs in SOME sentences, but are action verbs in other sentences. One way to determine if the verb is functioning as an action verb
or a linking verb is to substitute the word “is” for the verb in
question.If the sentence still makes sense,
then it is probably a linking verb. If
the sentence would not make sense with the word “is,” then it is
probably an action verb in the sentence. |
The following are examples
of verbs that can be linking verbs in some sentences and action verbs in
other sentences: |
look |
smell |
appear |
prove |
sound |
feel |
remain |
taste |
grow |
Here
are some sample sentences of verbs used as linking verbs and actions verbs. |
Used
as Linking Verbs |
Explanation |
Jane appeared uninjured after the accident. |
You could substitute the word 'is,'
for the word 'appears,' and the sentence
would still make sense: "Jane is
uninjured after the accident." This lets you know that
appeared is a linking verb in this sentence. |
The cake smells good! |
This sentence describes the cake.
“Smells” is a linking verb
in this sentence. It connects
the subject, cake, with information about
that subject—it smells good. |
The woman grew
silent. |
This sentence
may seem confusing. Remember
that the word “grow” has more than one
meaning! In this sentence,
“grew” means BECAME.
The woman became silent. |
Used
as Action Verbs |
Explanation |
Before I could leave, Jane appeared.
|
In this sentence,
appeared is not linking anything.
It is telling the action that Jane did. She appeared,
or showed up. |
Ellen smells
the cake. |
The
word, smells is not linking anything.
If you replaced smells with 'is'
the sentence would not make sense. That means smells
must be an action verb in this sentence. Ellen performed the action
of smelling the cake. |
The gardener
grew some flowers. |
The
word, grew, is not linking two
things together here. If you tried to replace
grew with 'is' the sentence would
not make sense. This means that grew
must be an action verb. The gardener performed the action of growing
some flowers. |