Linking Verbs Identifying them. Diagramming them.

For example: She is pretty. A linking verb connects a word at the beginning of a sentence with a word at the end. She For example: She is pretty. pretty

The most common linking verbs are the forms of BE AmAm beingCan beShall beHave beenMight have been AreAre beingCould beShould beHas beenMust have been IsIs beingMay beWill beHas beenShall have been WasWas beingMight beWould beCould have beenShould have been wereWere beingMust beMay have been Will have been Would have been

Examples Helena is our new president. Your grade should have been an “A”.

Examples diagrammed Helena is president Notice how the line after the linking verb is angled back toward the subject. It’s as if it is linking the two thoughts in your mind. our new Helena is our new president.

Examples diagrammed grade “A”should have been Your an Your grade should have been an “A”.

Other Linking Verbs That music sounds loud. She became president. These words can also link two parts of the sentence: appearfeellookseemsoundtaste becomegrowremainsmellstayturn

music sounds loud Examples diagrammed Again, the line after the linking verb angles back toward the subject. That That music sounds loud.

She became president. Examples diagrammed Again, the line after the linking verb angles back toward the subject. She became president.

How to tell if a verb is a linking verb: If you can exchange the verb with am, is, or are and the sentence still makes sense, then you have a linking verb. For example: That music sounds loud. That music is loud. They became friends. They are friends.

Now, you practice! Use the handout called DS - Linking Verb Practice.