Unit 6 Grammar B: Adjectives after linking verbs
Distinguish descriptions after linking verbs from adverbs modifying actions.
A linking verb connects the subject to a description, so an adjective follows it: the kitten seemed helpless; the soup tasted bitter. Verbs such as seem, appear, stay, become, feel, grow, look, smell, sound, and taste can serve as linking verbs. Some of the same verbs can describe actions instead. Compare the soup tasted bitter, where bitter describes the soup, with Murad tasted the soup carefully, where carefully describes how he performed the action. Use an adverb to modify an action verb: sang beautifully, spoke quietly, or looked angrily at someone.
Key terms
| Function | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Linking | What is the subject like? | The bread smells fresh. |
| Action | How is the action performed? | She smelled the flower carefully. |
| Linking | What quality does it have? | The sauce tastes spicy. |
| Action | How did someone test it? | He tasted the sauce cautiously. |
- 1Find what the word describes: In the child looked tired, the word describes the child.
- 2Classify the verb: Looked links child to a state.
- 3Choose the form: Use the adjective tired.
An object after looked at or tasted often signals an action, though meaning remains the final guide.
Hard is the ordinary adverb in worked hard; hardly has a different meaning.
Rules
- 1Use an adjective after a linking verb when the complement describes the subject.
- 2Seem, appear, stay, become, feel, and grow can link a subject to a description.
- 3Look, smell, sound, and taste can be linking verbs when they describe the subject’s state or quality.
- 4The same verb may be an action verb when the subject actively performs an action on something.
- 5Use an adverb to describe how an action is performed: sang beautifully and spoke quietly.
- 6Decide from meaning and sentence structure rather than from the verb alone.
Practice
4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard
Up to 10 random questions per test