Linking and Action VerbsLevel Two

Be sure you have reviewed and feel confident with the information from Level One.

This presentation assumes that you know what the linking verbs are and that you need some practice to distinguish the difference. If you do not know the linking verbs, refer to Level 1, and memorize the given verbs.

Which of the following has a linking verb?A. Beth is fixing my bike for me.B. David was never forgetful before.C. Were you just being difficult or something?

Sentence A does not have a linking verb although it does have a form of the verb to be with the word “is.” If you have a two word verb, the second verb is the

one that determines whether the verb is a linking or action verbSentence B has a linking verb “was,” the past tense of “to be”Sentence C has a linking verb “were being,” again a form of the verb “to be.”

Which of the following sentences has a linking verb?A. Hannah’s theory proved inaccurate with the first calculations.B. Ted proved that he could eat the strangest foods.C. Todd did not prove his argument until the last paragraph.

Only the first sentence, sentence A, has a linking verb. Hannah’s theory proved inaccurate with the first calculations. After all, it would be difficult for a theory to prove anything since it really cannot calculate.

Which of the following has an action verb.A. Kevin looks interested in this project about popsicles.B. Terence always looks at a problem from more than one perspective.C. Dylan must have looked at his watch a dozen times in five minutes.

In sentence A, Kevin was not using his eyes to see anything.

In both sentence B and C, both Terence and Dylan do use their eyes, if not literally, then metaphorically.

Which of the following sentences have an action verb?A. Chelsea grew basil and tomatoes in her garden.

B. Puja grew restless while waiting for the bus to arrive.C. Connie grew more nervous as the day wore on.

Only in sentence A is someone actually growing something.

Chelsea grows basil and tomatoes in her garden

Which of the following sentences have an action verb.A. Grace is becoming one of my favorite people.B. That dress is becoming on Cindy.C. Hunter became the school’s representatives to Model UN.

Sentence A and C have action verbs. Someone is actually becoming something in each sentence, whereas it is more difficult for a dress to become something other than itself. In fact , “to become” as a linking verb, one of the many words invented by Shakespeare, is a rare sight. We usually only use the verb “to become” as an action verb.

• Which of the following sentences have linking verbs?A. Ben seems an unlikely choice as an army recruit.B. In my opinion only Cathy can sound that good with the high

notes.C. Tanja stayed there for three weeks last summer.

“To seem” is always a linking verb, and so sentence A has a linking verb.

A. Ben seems an unlikely choice as an army recruit.

In Sentence B “to sound” is being used as a linking verb; remember “to sound” is one of those verbs that is difficult to find as an action

verb. Cindy is not sounding anything.

B. In my opinion only Cathy can sound that good with the high notes.

• Which of the following sentences have a linking verb.A. Sirisha turned twenty-eight just last year.B. The garbage from last night smelled rather fragrant this

morning.C. Bert appeared fine before the meeting.

All three sentences have linking verbs.

In Sentence A, Sirisha is not literally turning anything. In Sentence B, “to smell” is being used as a linking verb since garbage

does not have a nose to smell with and so is not literally smelling. In Sentence C, Ben is not literally appearing anywhere; instead “to

appear” is used as a means of describing how he looks.

Which of the following has a linking verb?A. On the grill, Ian turned over the hamburger a second time, a bbq no-

no.B. Hadley always smells the milk to make sure it has not yet soured.C. The Beatles appeared on American television the first time on

February 9, 1964.

And, of course, this time none of the sentences have linking verbs.

You may have noticed they are the same verbs used in the last batch when they were all linking verbs. This time,

in Sentence A, Ian actually turned something, a feat often requiring one’s hands.

In Sentence B, Hadley really does use her nose to test the milk, apparently having once suffered the unpleasantness of sour milk on her Cheerios.

Lastly, in Sentence C, the Beatles could be seen in a particular space, at a particular moment in time, that many Baby-Boomers remember better than how old they are.

Which of the following have linking verbs?A. Who has been a second time?B. Julia is becoming a star over night.C. Eric is tasting his favorite mango chutney again with glee.

Sentence A has a linking verb because any verb from “to be” will always be a linking verb.

Sentence B is a linking verb; an easy way to deduce that is to note that what follows the verb “ a star” is the same thing as the subject. In other words, Julia is a star.

However Sentence C shows Eric actually using his taste buds, which are mostly in one’s nose, not mouth as most suspect. It sounds odd but is true. Because he is actually tasting something, the verb “taste” is an action verb.

Which of the following has an action verb?A. Without his windbreaker Ruitai felt chilledB. Ernie remained with the bikes while we got the tacos.C. Brandon turned over a new leaf after winter break.

Sentence A is a linking verb because Ruitai is not touching anything; he just happens to be cold.

In Sentence B, Ernie is the one who is watching over the bikes and that task requires him to stay or remain or reside in an actual place.

Sentence C is an interesting use of an action verb. We cannot say, as we often do, that the subject, “Brandon” actually turned anything over. Unlike Ian from

an earlier sentence, “Brandon” does not use his hands to turn anything. However, even though the expression is metaphorical, not actual, it is an action verb. Again, note how what follows the noun is not the same thing as the subject. In other words, “Brandon” is not a leaf – they are two separate entities.

Which of the following sentences has a linking verb.A. Ginny remains convinced that she is right.B. Tasting the different sauces is my favorite part of the experience.C. At the end of the day, Kelly felt proud of her contributions.

Again, they are all linking verbs.

In Sentence A, notice how “convinced” describes Ginny, who does not need to be or “remain” anywhere in order to feel such conviction.

In Sentence B, I hope you were not fooled by the word “tasting” being the verb. Remember that no “ing” word can be a verb without a helper verb such as “is tasting, was tasting, has been tasting” The helper verbs come from the “to be” verb. The true verb of Sentence B is “is,” which is, of course, part of the verb “to be.”

Lastly Sentence C is a good example of a linking verb because again Kelly is not touching or even sensing anything on her skin.

Which of the following has an action verb?A. Dawn felt a change of heart after the race.B. During wars governments must often sound the call to arms.C. During vacation Jonah and Krystal stayed in a small cottage on the

beach.

This time they are all action verbs.

Sentence A is a twist on the past slide, which explained that “felt” was a linking verb because Kelly was not sensing or touching something. In Sentence A, Dawn is again not feeling or sensing anything on her skin, and yet “felt” in this sentence is still an action verb.

Again, as we did earlier with the verb “turn,” we are using a metaphorical sense of the verb in saying that Dawn “felt” a change of heart. And again, note how the change and Dawn are not one and the same as would be the case if “felt” were a linking verb

here. Sentence B employs the rare use of the action verb “to sound” since the governments are

actively calling upon people. And lastly Sentence C, Jonah and Krystal literally stay or reside somewhere rather than the

“stay” describing their state of mind, such as “they stayed calm in the midst of the chaos.”

Which of the following have linking verbs?A. The weather turned warmer later in the week.B. Fortunately, the rumors about the food proved entirely untrue.C. Chloe is looking over the side of the boat for dolphins.

Sentence A and B both have linking verbs.

One of the tell-tale signs of “turned” being a linking verb in Sentence A is that there is an adjective “warmer” following the verb, and note once again, as with all linking verbs, the word following the verb “warmer” describes the subject, “weather.”

In sentence B, the verb “prove” is followed by another adjective “untrue, which again describes the subject “rumors.”

Lastly in Sentence C, Chloe is using her eyes to see something, and so “look” in this sentence is an action verb.

Which of the following has a linking verb?A. The clouds over there look ominous to me.B. Stay there!

C. The students became their own best teachers during the project.

Sentences A and C have a linking verb.

In Sentence A, clouds, of course, lack eyes, and so they could not literally look anywhere.

Though Sentence B is short, it is still clear that whoever is being told to “stay” will have to remain somewhere for a period of time; therefore, “stay” is an action verb even though, clearly, there is not a whole lot of action to staying anywhere.

Sentence C, however, is a linking verb, and though it might seem odd to say that the students and the teachers are one and the same, for much of our lives, it proves to be true that we all have a great deal of learning that we gain from our own experience.

Last one – which of the following has a linking verb?A. That outfit, without a doubt, becomes her.B. Jessica sounded worried on the phone.C. Andrew is having a great time with that puzzle.

Sentence A is an action verb, which is, as we said, is unusual. Note how this time the noun following the verb is different from the subject; in other words, the “outfit” and “her” are not one and the same – thankfully.

Sentence B does have a linking verb; Jessica is not actually “sounding” the phone. It is more that the phone has a sound.

Sentence 3 is an action verb; remember, even though there is a linking verb as part of the verb, “is,” we use the second verb, in this case, “having,” to determine whether the verb of the sentence is action or linking.

Congratulations – you completed Level 2