What Are Linking Verbs?

Every sentence has a verb.

Verbs show what the subject does or is.

Mary dances.
Subject verb

Dances is an action verb.

But not all verbs show action.

      A linking verb is a word that connects a subject to words or phrases that tell more about it.

A linking verb doesn't show action.

Take a look at this sentence:

The balloons are blue.

The linking verb is 'are'.

The word are connects the subject to the words that describe it.

'The Balloons' is the subject.

Tip: Blue is an adjective that describes balloons.

The linking verb are brings them together.

Here's another example:

Billy is mad at me.

What's the linking verb in this sentence?

Yes! The linking verb is 'is'.

Not Action Words

The linking verbs in our examples do not show actions.

What they do is to "link" or connect subjects to other parts of the sentence.

Common Linking Verbs

The Verb "Be"

Whenever you say:

I am full.

or

You are wonderful.

or

She is lovely.

... you're actually using the linking verb 'be'!

You learned all about the irregular verb 'be' in the last lesson, so we won't cover it again here. 👍

Sense Verbs

      Sense verbs can also be linking verbs.

Sense verbs are related to our senses.

look, feel, sound, taste, smell

Just be careful when using these verbs. 👆

Look at the difference between these two sentences:

Sentence 1:
The pizza smells delicious.

Sentence 2:
Jed smells the pizza.

In the first sentence, the subject is pizza and delicious is the word that describes it.

Smells is the word that connects these two. It's working as a linking verb. ✅

In the second sentence, the subject is Jed and pizza is the object.

Smells is used to show action, the action that "Jed" is doing to the pizza. 

It's working as an action verb, not as a linking verb. ❎

😉 Here's a trick that will help you know if a sense verb is working as a linking verb:

Replace the sense verb with a "be" verb and check if the sentence still makes sense.

The pizza smells delicious. 👉 The pizza is delicious.

Does the sentence still make sense?

Yes! It does. So we know the sense verb is acting as a linking verb. 😃

Subject-Verb Agreement with Sense Verbs

There is a fancy rule in grammar that says "verbs must agree with their subjects."

What does that mean for sense verbs?

It just means that in the present tense:

👉 Add "s" at the end of the verb if the subject is singular.

The cupcake tastes great.

👉 Do not add "s" at the end of the verb if the subject is plural.

The cupcakes taste great.

For the past tense, it's easy:

👉 Use the same past tense verb for singular and plural subjects.

The cupcake tasted great.

The cupcakes tasted great.

Great job learning about linking verbs! 👏

Now, you're ready to ace the practice! 😃