Lesson 18 January 13, 2016 Pages

Bellwork Note: Bellwork should be written on the same page as the day’s lesson. Today’s lesson is lesson #18. Write the verb phrase and label the progressive verb form. 1.Congress will be introducing some new bills later. 2.The originators of the bill have been proposing this idea to the appropriate committee. 3.The amiable police officer was averting a riot among the bellicose protestors.

Linking Verbs *A linking verb “links” the subject of a sentence to the rest of the predicate. * It does not show action, and it is not “helping” the action verb. *Its purpose is to connect a name or description to the subject. *Its purpose is to connect a name or description to the subject.

Daniel Webster was a Senator. In the sentence, “was” links “Daniel Webster” with “respectable”. Even though was can be used as a helping verb to show tense, in this case it is not modifying any other verb, so it is not a helping verb. Daniel Webster is the subject of the sentence, and the word respectable is describing him.

Action or linking? We must carefully examine our sentences. Some verbs can be used as either linking or action verbs, as shown in these examples. The President appears healthy. (The word “appears” is a linking verb. It links “President” with “healthy” ). The President appears before the Senate to discuss the bill. (“Appears” is an action verb. The President is performing an action- appearing before the Senate.)

Common Linking Verbs Common linking verbs include all the following forms of the verb “to be”: Is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been The following verbs are also common linking verbs: Look, feel, taste, smell, sound, seem, appear, grow, become, remain, stay

Identifying linking verbs To determine whether or not a verb is a linking verb, try replacing it with a form of the helping verb “to be” (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, or been), as in the examples on the next slide.

The Senator feels exuberant. Replace feels with is: The Senator is exuberant. Since the sentence still makes sense, we can determine that feels is a linking verb in the sentence. Here’s another example: The Senator feels the tension in the room. Replace feels with is: The Senator is the tension in the room. The sentence no longer makes sense, so we have determined that the word feels is an action verb in this sentence.

Examples: Identify and write the linking verb, if any, in each sentence. A. A filibuster is a long-winded speech. B. The Constitution became a highly respected document. C. Ben Franklin looked closely at the details of the Constitution.

Lesson 18 Page 109 “More Practice” 1-16