#linking verb

Direct and Indirect Object

Direct Object

-          Direct objects are nouns, pronouns, clauses or phrases that follows the verb in a sentence. You can identify the direct object by using this simple formula: subject + verb + who? or what? = DIRECT OBJECT

Confusing direct objects with subject complements

A subject complement is a clause or phrase that follows a linking verb, such as is, are or was, and complements, or completes, the subject of a sentence by describing or renaming it. If the verb is a linking one, the word that answers the question “what” or “who” is a subject complement.

Take note that only action verbs can have direct object

Indirect Object

-          Indirect objects are nouns or pronouns that identify who or what is receiving the direct object. The indirect object typically precedes the direct object and is identified by asking who or what received the direct object.

Classifications of Verbs

Transitive and Intransitive Verb

Transitive verbs are action verbs that have an object to receive that action.

Intransitive verbs are action verbs but unlike transitive verbs, they do not have an object receiving the action.

Linking verbs

Unlike action verbs, linking verbs show a relationship between the subject of the sentence and a noun or adjective being linked to it.

The most common linking verbs are forms of the verb to be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been.

Other common linking verbs include: appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, and turn.

Linking verbs (also called copulas) are like the links on Mr. T’s gold necklace; they’re tough enough to carry a sentence when an action verb is MIA (and not at Miami International Airport). Not action-oriented in the least, these verbs link and in that, identify the relationship between the subject and what follows the verb.

Sade used a linking verb to identify the relationship between love and pride. Bruno Mars used a linking verb  to identify a distant point of time and his position in someone’s life. Nirvana used a linking verb to identify an implied noun and teen spirit.

Some linking verbs are easily identifiable. They are the various forms of the verb to be, to become and to seem.

Other linking verbs are not so easy to identify. Sometimes an action verb becomes a linking verb based on its use in the sentence. Examples of these murky linking verbs include:  grow, look, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste, turn, stay, get, appear, and feel.

So how can you tell? Ask yourself if the subject can in reality perform the verb action that the verb is suggesting.

Ex: In I can smell the food, the subject is ‘I’ and the action verb is…smell.

But in Smells Like Teen Spirit; the subject is the implied ‘it’ and the action verb…doesn’t exist. Smells, in this instance, is a linking verb

If you hadn’t noticed, the villa of VERB is a full house with blurred boundaries and often confusing trimmings that make you question your grip on sanity. What’s important, in the end, is to be able to identify a verb as a significant number of errors often occur because the verb was misidentified.

So how to identify a verb:

Ask yourself, what is happening? Then ask yourself, what is? One of these questions has to be answered. It’s a law.

Ex: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?

What is happening?  The answer is mend, which you now know is an action verb. And can? Can is the Auxiliary, its purpose is to help convey the tense of mend.

Okay, I am definitely guilty of this. I think everyone uses the wrong verb tense in their writing from time to time. Verb tense can be a tricky part of grammar to conquer. If you screw it up once or twice I have no problem forgiving you for it. However, your entire story or paper or whatever it is that you are writing should not make my head spin as I try to grasp which tense it is set in.

If you're writing about the past you use past tense. Example: He said, I said. 

If you're writing about the present use present tense. Example: I say.

Future tense typically uses helping, linking, or be verbs in front of the main verb. Example: I am going to say.