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你可能喜欢Grammar Bytes! :: The Subject
The Subject
Recognize a subject of a sentence when you see one.
In a , every
must have a subject. If the verb expresses action—like
sneeze, jump,
bark, or study—the
subject is who or what does the verb. Take a look at this
During his biology lab,
Tommy danced on the table.
Danced is an . Tommy is who did
the dancing. Look at the next example:
The speeding hotrod
crashed into a telephone pole.
Crashed is the action verb. The
hotrod is what did the crashing.
Not all verbs are action verbs. Some verbs are linking:
were, seem,
and become, among others.
connect the subject to something
that is said about the subject. Take a look at this example:
Ron's bathroom
is a disaster.
Bathroom is the subject.
Is connects the subject to something that
is said about it, that the bathroom is a disaster. Here is another example:
The bathroom tiles
are fuzzy with mold.
The word tiles is the subject.
Are connects tiles
to something said about them, that they are fuzzy with mold.
Generally, but not always, the subject of a linking verb will come
before the linking verb.
Know the difference between a complete subject and a simple subject.
The complete subject is who or what is doing the verb
plus all of the
[descriptive
words] that go with it. Read the sentence below:
The big, hungry, green Martian grabbed a student
from the back row.
Who did the grabbing? The Martian, of course. But this Martian wasn't
petite, satisfied, and blue. No, this one was big, hungry, and green. The
complete subject, then, is the huge, hairy, hungry,
green Martian.
The simple subject, on the other hand, is the who or what
that is doing the verb without any description. Take a look at
this example:
The bright copper coin sparkled on the sidewalk.
What did the sparkling? Obviously, the bright copper coin.
The, bright
and copper, however, are just description
that distinguishes this coin from one that is, let's say, tarnished
and silver. The simple subject is only the word
Remember that the subject is never part of a prepositional phrase.
The subject of a verb will never be part of a
. A prepositional
phrase begins with a
between, among,
etc.] and ends with a , , or . Look at these examples
of prepositional phrases:
in the dirty bathtub
on the bumpy road
between us
among the empty pizza boxes
without crying
Sometimes a prepositional phrase appears to be either the subject itself
or part of the subject. Read the example that follows:
Neither of these boys wants to try a piece of pineapple
In this sentence, the boys seem to be
the ones who do not want the pizza, but because they are part of a prepositional
phrase, of these boys, they are not the
subject. Neither is the actual subject.
Take a look at another example:
My dog, along with her seven puppies, has chewed
all of the stuffing out of the sofa cushions.
Here, both my dog and
her seven puppies are chewing on the sofa,
but because the puppies are part of the prepositional phrase
along with her seven puppies, the only word
that counts as the subject is dog.
Remember this additional point:
Generally, but not always, the subject comes before the verb,
as in all of the examples above. There are, however, exceptions, like this
In a small house adjacent to our backyard lives a
family with ten noisy children.
Lives is the
in this sentence, but it is not the house or the backyard
that is doing the living. Instead, it is the family with ten noisy children.
Family, then, is the subject of this sentence,
even though it comes after the verb. Take a look at another example:
Around the peach trees are several buzzing
bumblebees.
Are is the
in this sentence. The word trees,
however, is not the subject because trees
is within the prepositional phrase around the peach
trees. The subject in this sentence, bumblebees,
follows the verb rather than coming before it.
©1997 - 2016 by Robin L. Simmons
All Rights Reserved.Linking Verb - Definition and Examples
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Examples of common linking verbs in English. Note that forms of be can also serve as , depending on how they're used in a sentence. Likewise, verbs related to the senses can also serve as .&
November 27, 2015.
DefinitionLinking verb is a traditional term for a type of
(such as a form of be or seem) that joins the
of a sentence to a word or phrase that tells something about the subject. For example, is functions as a linking verb in the sentence "The boss is unhappy."The word or phrase that follows the linking verb (in our example, unhappy) is called a . The subject complement that follows a linking verb is usually an
(or ), or a .
Linking verbs (in contrast to ) relate either to a state of being (be, become, seem, remain, appear) or to the senses (look, hear, feel, taste, smell). In contemporary , linking verbs are usually called
or copular verbs.See Examples and Observations below. Also see:
Examples and ObservationsThe Grinch is grumpy.In the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the mayor of Whoville is Augustus Maywho. In the book Horton Hears a Who!, Ned McDodd is the mayor of Whoville. This lemonade tastes sour, but the cookies smell delicious. Beth felt bad and wanted to go home. Tom felt Beth's forehead and then he became upset. Though she appeared calm, Naomi was extremely happy about her promotion. "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four, 1890) "If your daily life seems poor, blame yourself. Tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches."(Rainer Maria Rilke)
"If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is."(William Safire, How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar. W.W. Norton, 2005) "I became a feminist as an alternative to becoming a masochist."(Sally Kempton)
Two Tests for LInking Verbs1. "A good trick to determine if a verb is a linking verb is to substitute the word seems for the verb. If the sentence still makes sense, the verb is a linking verb.The food looked spoiled.The food seemed spoiled.Seemed works, so looked is a linking verb in the sentence above.I looked at the dark clouds.I seemed at the dark clouds.Seemed doesn't work, so looked is not a linking verb in the sentence above."(Barbara Goldstein, Jack Waugh, and Karen Linsky, Grammar to Go: How It Works and How To Use It, 3rd ed. Wadsworth, Cengage, 2010)2. "Verbs dealing with the senses (such as looks, smells, feels, tastes, and sounds) can also be linking verbs. A good way to tell if one of these verbs is used as a linking verb is to substitute a form of be for the verb: If the sentence retains the same meaning, the verb is a linking verb. For example, look at the way feels, looks, and tastes are used in the following sentences.Jane feels (is) sick.That color looks (is) awful on you.The casserole tastes (is) terrible."(Pam Mathis, Blueprints for Writing: Building Essays. Wadsworth, Cengage, 2014)
Two Types of Linking Verbs"These copular verbs (also linking verbs) can be divided semantically into two types: (1) Those like be that refer to a current state: appear, feel, remain, seem, sound. (2) Those that indicate a result of some kind: become, get (wet); go (bad); grow (old); turn (nasty). Be is the copula that most often takes adverbial complements which characterize or identify the subject: I I felt a fool."(Sylvia Chalker, "Copula," in The Oxford Companion to the English Language, edited by Tom McArthur. Oxford University Press, 1992)
Using Linking Verbs With Complements for EmphasisLike the be-pattern, linking verbs may take
as . Some of the linking verbs have a little more acute verbal action than the be-equations:Everything became a mist.(C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength, 380)He became a castaway in broad daylight.(William Golding, Pincher Martin, 56)A simple
structure--a linking verb with a noun and two --here makes an urgent point:War remains the decisive human failure.(John Kenneth Galbraith, The Economics of Innocent Fraud, 62)As predicate complements, adjectives that follow linking verbs often carry the new information and draw the stress.Argument remains inescapable.(Julie Thompson Klein, Crossing Boundaries, 211)She looked new and fresh.(Carolyn See, The Handyman, 173) . . .In these linking examples, the major
tends to fall on the predicate complement or, sometimes, whatever word or structure is at the end of the sentence . . .."(Virginia Tufte, Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style. Graphics Press, 2006) Pronunciation: ling-king verb
linking verbVerbs and Verbals
Verbs and Verbals
There are separate sections on
Definitions
Verbs carry the idea of being or action in the sentence.
I am a student. The students passed all their courses.
As we will see on this page, verbs are classified in many ways. First, some verbs require an
to complete their meaning: "She gave _____
?" Gave what? She gave money to the church. These verbs are called transitive.
Verbs that are intransitive do not require objects: "The building collapsed." In English, you cannot tell the difference between a transitive and intransit you have to see how the verb is functioning within the sentence. In fact, a verb can be both transitive and intransitive: "The monster collapsed the building by sitting on it."
Although you will seldom hear the term, a ditransitive verb — such as cause or give — is one
that can take a direct object and an indirect object at the same time: "That horrid music gave me a headache."
Ditransitive verbs are slightly different, then, from
(see below), in that the latter take two objects.
Verbs are also classified as either finite or non-finite. A finite verb makes an assertion or expresses a state of being and can stand by itself as the main verb of a sentence.
The truck demolished the restaurant.The leaves were yellow and sickly.
Non-finite verbs (think "unfinished") cannot, by themselves, be main verbs:
The broken window . . . The wheezing gentleman . . .
Another, more useful term for non-finite verb is verbal. In this section, we discuss various verbal forms: infinitives, gerunds, and participles.
The "-s" Problem Icon means that the verb requires an -s ending because it's a third-person (he/she/it) verb in the present tense. See the
for help in identifying present tenses requiring the -s.
The "-ed" Problem Icon probably means that the verb requires an -ed ending because it's in the past tense or that an -ed ending has been used inappropriately. The -ed ending is particularly problematic when it occurs just before a "d" or "t" sound as in "We are used to doing things the way we're supposed to: like in the old-fashioned days." See the
for help in identifying past tenses requiring the -ed.
The "Verb" Problem Icon probably means that the verb tenses in this sentence are inconsistent or incorrect. See the section on
for help in using the correct sequence of verb tenses.
See the section on
for help in maintaining a proper consistency in verb tense.
Four Verb Forms
The inflections (endings) of English verb forms are not difficult to remember. There are only four basic forms. Instead of forming complex tense forms with endings, English uses auxiliary verb forms. English does not even have a proper end instead, we use auxiliaries such as "I am going to read this afternoon." or "I will read." or even "I am reading this book tomorrow." It would be useful, however, to learn these four basic forms of verb construction.
Name of verb
Present participle
Past participle
to workI can work.I work.
I worked. I am working. I have worked.
to writeI can write.I write. I wrote. I am writing.I have written.
Linking Verbs
A linking verb connects a subject and its .
Sometimes called copulas, linking verbs are often forms of the verb to be, but are sometimes verbs related to the five senses (look, sound, smell, feel, taste) and sometimes verbs that somehow reflect a state of being (appear, seem, become, grow, turn, prove, remain). What follows the linking verb will be either a noun complement or an adjective complement:
Those people are all professors.
Those professors are brilliant.
This room smells bad.
I feel great.
A victory today seems unlikely.
A handful of verbs that reflect a change in state of being are sometimes called
resulting copulas. They, too, link a subject to a predicate adjective:
His face turned purple.
She became older.
The dogs ran wild.
The milk has gone sour.
The crowd grew ugly.
"This is he."
A Frequently Asked Question about linking verbs concerns the correct response when you pick up the phone and someone asks for you. One correct response would be "This is he [she]." The predicate following the linking verb should be in the nominative (subject) form — definitely not "This is him." If
"This is he" sounds stuffy to you, try using "Speaking," instead, or "This is Fred," substituting your own name for Fred's — unless it's a bill collector or telemarketer calling, in which case "This is Fred" is a good response for everyone except people named Fred.
Active and Passive Voice
There is now a separate section dealing with issues raised by a verb's
(active/passive).
Click on the "Verb Guy" to read and hear Bob Dorough's "Verb: That's What's Happening!" (from Scholastic Rock, 1974).
Schoolhouse Rock® and its characters and other elements are
trademarks and service marks of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Used with permission.
Mood in verbs refers to one of three attitudes that a writer or speaker has to what is being written or spoken. The indicative mood, which describes most sentences on this page, is used to make a statement or ask a question. The imperative mood is used when we're feeling sort of bossish and want to give a directive, strong suggestion, or order:
Get your homework done before you watch television tonight.
Please include cash payment with your order form.
Get out of town!
Notice that there is no subject in these imperative sentences. The pronoun you (singular or plural, depending on context) is
the "understood subject" in imperative sentences. Virtually all imperative sentences, then, have a second person (singular or plural) subject. The sole exception is the first person construction, which includes an objective form as subject: "Let's (or Let us) work on these things together."
The subjunctive mood is used in dependent clauses that do the following: 1) 2) begin with if and express a condition that does not exist (is contrary to fact); 3) begin with as if and as though when such clauses describe a speculation or condit and 4) begin with that and express a demand, requirement, request, or suggestion. A new section on the uses of the
should help you understand the subjunctive.
She wishes her boyfriend were here.
If Juan were more aggressive, he'd be a better hockey player.
We would have passed if we had studied harder.
He acted as if he were guilty.
I requested that he be present at the hearing.
The subjunctive is not as important a mood in English as it is in other languages, like French and Spanish, which happen to be more subtle and discriminating in hypothetical, doubtful, or wishful expressions. Many situations which would require the subjunctive in other languages are satisfied by using one of several auxiliary verbs in English.
The New York Public Library's Writer's Guide to Style and Usage has this important note on the subjunctive: "The words if, as if, or as though do not always signal the subjunctive mood. If the information in such a clause points out a condition that is or was probable or likely, the verb should be in the indicative mood. The indicative tells the reader that the information in the dependent clause could possibly be true" (155). Cited with permission.
The present tense of the subjunctive uses only the base form of the verb.
He demanded that his students use two-inch margins.
She suggested that we be on time tomorrow.
The past tense of the subjunctive has the same forms as the indicative except (unfortunately) for the verb to be, which uses were regardless of the number of the subject.
If I were seven feet tall, I'd be a great basketball player.
He wishes he were a better student.
If you were rich, we wouldn't be in this mess.
If they were faster, we could have won that race.
Auxiliary or Helping Verbs
The issues raised by Helping
or Auxiliary Verbs and Modal Auxiliaries are covered in a separate section. Click here for help with .
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs
consist of a verb and another word or phrase, usually a . The resulting combination creates what amounts to a new verb, whose meaning can sometimes be puzzling to non-native speakers. Phrasal verbs often arise from casual uses of the language and eventually work themselves into the mainstream of language use. Phrasal verbs can be both intransitive (The children were sitting around, doing nothing. The witness finally broke down on the stand.) and transitive in meaning (Our boss called off the meeting. She looked up her old boyfriend.) The word that is joined with a verb in this construction (often a preposition) is called a particle.
The problem with phrasal verbs is that their meaning is often, at first, obscure, and they often mean several different things.
To make out, for instance, can mean to perceive it can also mean to engage in light sexual play.
If someone chooses to turn up the street that is a combination of a verb and a preposition, but it is not a phrasal verb. On the other hand, if your neighbors unexpectedly turn up (appear) at a party or your brother turns up his radio, those are phrasal verbs. To come out, we are told, has eighteen different meanings.
Verbs can be combined with different prepositions and other words, sometimes with dizzying effect: stand out, stand up, stand in, stand off, stand by, stand fast, stand pat, stand down, stand against, stand for. Further, the verb and the word or phrase it connects to are not always contiguous: "Fill this out," we would say, but then we would say, "Fill out this form."
You can click
for an extensive list of , broken down into categories of transitive and intransitive, separable and inseparable. The list of verbs is accompanied with brief definitions and examples. Printed out, the list will be five or six pages long, depending on the size font you are using, the width of your browser window, etc. Understand, however, that the list is a mere sampling of the hundreds of phrasal verb combinations. For beginning language learners, the challenge of mastering phrasal verbs is so great that only intensive instruction and practice in an ESL program and a great deal of time spent listening and reading carefully can address the problem. Having a good dictionary at hand is also helpful.
Causative Verbs
Causative verbs designate the action necessary to cause another action to happen. In "The devil made me do it." the verb "made" causes the "do" to happen. Here is a brief list of causative verbs, in no particular order: let, help, allow, have, require, allow, motivate, get, make, convince, hire, assist, encourage, permit, employ, force. Most of them are followed by an object (noun or pronoun) followed by an infinitive: "She allows her pet cockatiel to perch on the windowsill. She hired a carpenter to build a new birdcage."
Three causative verbs are exceptions to the pattern described above. Instead of being followed by a noun/pronoun and an infinitive, the causative verbs have, make and let are followed by a noun/pronoun and the base form of the verb (which is actually an infinitive with the "to" left off).
Professor Villa had her students read four short novels in one week.She also made them read five plays in one week.However, she let them skip the final exam.
Factitive Verbs
Verbs like make, choose, judge, elect, select, name.
are called factitive verbs. These transitive verbs can take two objects, or seem to:
They judged Philbert's dog Best of Show. (where "dog" is the direct object and "Best of Show" is the second complement). The faculty elected
Dogsbreath the new Academic Dean. (where Dogsbreath is the direct object and "Academic Dean" is the second complement). U.S. News and World Report named our college the best in the northeast. (where "our college" is the direct object and "the best" is the second complement).
Tense shows the time of a verb's action or being. There are three inflected forms reflected by changes in the endings of verbs. The present tense indicates that something is happening or being now: "She is a student. She drives a new car." The simple past tense indicates that something happened in the past: "She was a student. She drove a new car."
And the past participle form is combined with auxiliary verbs to indicate that something happened in the past prior to another action: "She has been a student. She had driven a new car."
Unlike most other languages, English does not have inflected forms for the future tense. Instead, English future forms are created with the use of auxiliaries: "She will be a student. She is going to drive a new car." English can even create the future by using the present tense, "The bus arrives later this afternoon," or the present progressive, "He is relocating to Portland later next month."
For an extensive discussion of the future tense in English, click .
Progressive Verbs
The progressive tenses, which indicate something being or happening, are formed with the present participle form (ending in -ing) along with various auxiliaries.
"She is driving. She was driving. She will be driving. She has been driving. She had been driving. She will have been driving." Click
for more on the progressive forms. Some verbs, called stative verbs, (including, sometimes, the verb to be) do not normally create the progressive. Click here for a discussion of the difference between .
For help with the verb "to be," click the enter button below.
If you have a frames-capable browser, we recommend the
The Directory contains descriptions, conjugations (for both regular and
verbs), and sample sentences for the twelve tenses of active voice verbs.
For a greatly simplified one-page summary of these tenses, click .
Colin Mahoney, a teacher of English as a foreign language, has a considerable page devoted to the , which we recommend. For ESL learners and students wanting a thorough review of verbs, we also recommend the tutorial on English tenses at
(expect ads).
Irregular Verbs
Most verbs in English form their various tenses consistently: add -ed to the base of a verb to create the simple past and past participle: he walked; he has walked.
There are, however, a number of so-called irregular verbs, (including, unfortunately, some very common verbs such as to be and to have) whose various forms must be memorized. An alphabetized list of
is available in the Guide that you can copy or print out and then try to memorize or at least use in practice sentences. You should take the quizzes on irregular verbs, below, after you've looked at this list.
Sequence of Tenses
Sequence of Tenses: The relationship between verbs in a main clause and verbs in dependent clauses is important. These verb tenses don't have to be identical as long as they reflect, logically, shifts in time and meaning: "My brother had graduated before I started college." "My brother will have graduated before I start."
for a chart describing various time relationships and how those relationships determine the appropriate sequence of verb tenses.
Verbals are words that seem to carry the idea of action or being but
do not function as a true verb. The are sometimes called "nonfinite" (unfinished or incomplete) verbs. Because time is involved with all verb forms, whether finite or nonfinite, however, following a logical Tense Sequence is important. Click
for a chart describing the time elements involved in choosing the correct verbal form. Verbals are frequently accompanied by other, related words in what is called a verbal phrase.
There is a whole section on how verbals connect with other words to form phrases. Be sure to visit the always pleasant .
Participle: a verb form acting as an adjective. The running dog chased the fluttering moth. A present participle (like running or fluttering) describes a past participle describes something that has happened: "The completely rotted tooth finally fell out of his mouth."
The distinction can be important to the me
there is a huge difference between a confusing student and a confused student. See the section on
for further help on this issue.
Infinitive: the root of a verb plus the word to. To sleep, perchance to dream. A present infinitive describes a present condition: "I like to sleep." The perfect infinitive describes a time earlier than that of the verb: "I would like to have won that game." See the section on
below for other forms as well.
The Split Infinitive
If there is one error in writing that your boss or history prof can and will pick up on, it's the notorious split infinitive. An infinitive is said to be "split" when a word (often an adverb) or phrase sneaks between the to of the infinitive and the root of the verb: "to boldly go," being the most famous of its kind. The argument against split infinitives (based on rather shaky historical grounds) is that the infinitive is a single unit and, therefore, should not be divided. Because it raises so many readers' hackles and is so easy to spot, good writers, at least in academic prose, avoid the split infinitive. Instead of writing "She expected her grandparents to not stay," then, we could write "She expected her grandparents not to stay." Sometimes, though, avoiding the split infinitive simply isn't worth the bother. There is nothing wrong, really, with a sentence such as the following:
He thinks he'll be able to more than double his salary this year.
The Oxford American Desk Dictionary, which came out in October of 1998, says that the rule against the split infinitive can generally be ignored, that the rule "is not firmly grounded, and treating two English words as one can lead to awkward, stilted sentences." ("To Boldly Go," The Hartford Courant. 15 Oct 1998.) Opinion among English instructors and others who feel strongly about the language remains divided, however. Today's dictionaries allow us to split the infinitive, but it should never be done at the expense of grace. Students would be wise to know their instructor's feelings on the matter, workers their boss's.
Both gerunds and infinitive phrases can function as nouns, in a variety of ways. Noun uses are covered in a separate document, a section that should be helpful to students who want to understand why some verbs take gerunds, others take infinitives, some take either. (In addition, there is a section on the use of the infinitive as adjective complement — free at no extra charge.) Click the button to enter.
Gerund: a verb form, ending in -ing, which acts as a noun. Running in the park after dark can be dangerous. Gerunds are frequently accompanied by other associated words making up a
("running in
the park after dark").
Because gerunds and gerund phrases are nouns, they can be used in any way that a noun can be used:
as subject: Being king can be dangerous for your health.
as object of the verb: He didn't particularly like being king.
as object of a preposition: He wrote a book about being king.
Infinitives and Gerunds and Sequence
Although they are not, strictly speaking, verbs, infinitives and gerunds carry within them the idea of action. Combined with auxiliary verb forms, like verbs, they also express various shades of time.
SimpleForms
We had planned to watch all the events of the Olympics
Seeing those athletes perform is always a great thrill.
PerfectiveForms
The women's hockey team hoped to have won a gold medal before they were done.
We were thrilled about their having been in contention in the world championships before.
PassiveForms
To be chosen as an olympian must be the biggest thrill in any athlete's life.
Being chosen, however, is probably not enough.
PerfectivePassiveForms
The women did not seem satisfied simply to have been selected as players.
Having been honored this way, they went out and earned it by winning the gold.
PerfectiveProgressiveInfinitive
To have been competing at that level, at their age already, was quite an accomplishment.
Actual and Potential Meanings
Although a gerund and an infinitive will often have practically the same meaning ("Running in the park after dark can be dangerous" and "To run in the park after dark can be dangerous"),
there can be a difference in meaning. Gerunds are used to describe an "actual, vivid, or fulfilled action" whereas infinitives are better used to describe "potential, hypothetical, or future events" (Frodesen & Eyring 297). This is especially true with three kinds of verbs: verbs of emotion, verbs of completion/incompletion, and verbs of remembering.
Actual Event
Potential Event
I hated practicing my violin while the other kids were playing outside.
I prefer to work during the day.
COMPLETION/INCOMPLETION
Actual Event
Potential Event
We began working on this project two years ago. We finished working on this project a month ago. (Finish always takes a gerund.)
We will continue to work on this project for the next four months. I wonder when we will start to wrap up this project.
REMEMBERING(such as remember, forget, regret)
Juanita forgot to do her homework. (meaning that Juanita failed to do her homework because she didn't remember to do it)
Juanita forgot doing her homework. (meaning that Juanita did her homework but that she forgot she had done so)
For the various noun functions of both gerunds and infinitives, click on the button.
For additional help recognizing and working with verbs and verb forms, see
of Sentence Sense: A Writer's Guide.}