What follows the linking verb is called a “subject complement” because it describes the subject of the sentence. There are two types:<\/p>\n
- \n
- predicate adjectives<\/strong> – when what follows the linking verb is an adjective (ex. tired, annoyed) or an adjective phrase (ex. annoyed about the delay)<\/li>\n
- predicate nouns\u00a0<\/strong>– when what follows the linking verb is a noun (ex. a teacher, students) or a noun phrase (ex. a teacher at the local college)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Linking verbs list<\/h3>\n
Most linking verbs are related to BEING, BECOMING, and how things appear to our five senses:<\/p>\n
- \n
- be – including all its forms (am \/ are \/ is in the present tense; was \/ were in the past tense, etc.)<\/li>\n
- become\/get\/grow\/turn (when talking about a change\/transformation)<\/li>\n
- seem<\/li>\n
- appear<\/li>\n
- look<\/li>\n
- smell<\/li>\n
- sound<\/li>\n
- taste<\/li>\n
- feel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These are the most common ones; there are a few others that are only occasionally linking verbs, as you’ll see in the section on verbs that can be both!<\/p>\n
Linking verbs: examples<\/h3>\n
Let’s see some example sentences using linking verbs to connect the subject of the sentence to its description (the subject complement):<\/p>\n
BE:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/strong>hungry.<\/li>\n
- They\u00a0are\u00a0<\/strong>friendly.<\/li>\n
- He\u00a0is\u00a0<\/strong>a native English speaker.<\/li>\n
- The movie\u00a0was\u00a0<\/strong>funny.<\/li>\n
- My parents\u00a0are\u00a0<\/strong>retired now, but they\u00a0were\u00a0<\/strong>both doctors.
\n(two linking verbs here! One is followed by a predicate adjective – retired – and the other by a predicate noun – doctors)<\/em><\/li>\n- The festival\u00a0will be\u00a0<\/strong>awesome!<\/li>\n
- We‘ve been\u00a0<\/strong>busy lately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
“Be” is a linking verb when it is the main verb, followed by an adjective (hungry, awesome, busy) or a noun (a native English speaker, doctors).<\/p>\n
“Be” functions as a helping verb<\/a> when followed by a continuous form (I am studying<\/strong>) or a past participle as in the passive voice<\/a> (The documents were stolen<\/strong>).<\/p>\n
BECOME \/ GET \/ GROW \/ TURN \/ GO:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
These are linking verbs when talking about change or transformation:<\/p>\n
- \n
- She became\u00a0<\/strong>a famous author later in life.<\/li>\n
- The weather\u00a0gets\u00a0<\/strong>cold around November.<\/li>\n
- They\u00a0grew <\/strong>impatient after waiting for three hours.<\/li>\n
- His face\u00a0turned\u00a0<\/strong>red with embarrassment.<\/li>\n
- The crowd\u00a0went\u00a0<\/strong>crazy when the player scored a goal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Learn lots more expressions with “get”<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
SEEM \/ APPEAR \/ LOOK:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- The children\u00a0seem\u00a0<\/strong>content.<\/li>\n
- He\u00a0appears\u00a0<\/strong>unhappy.<\/li>\n
- That roller coaster looks\u00a0<\/strong>scary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
SMELL \/ SOUND \/ TASTE \/ FEEL:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- The cake smells <\/strong>good.<\/li>\n
- Your plan\u00a0sounds\u00a0<\/strong>great!<\/li>\n
- This meat tastes\u00a0<\/strong>salty.<\/li>\n
- My blanket\u00a0feels\u00a0<\/strong>soft.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Learn vocabulary for perceptions of the senses<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
![\"My](\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/wool-blanket-7088725_640-300x215.jpg\")
My blanket IS soft \/ My blanket FEELS soft: Both “is” and “feels” are linking verbs, because they link the subject (blanket) with one of its qualities (soft)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Verbs that can be both<\/h3>\n
Some of the verbs listed above can be linking verbs or action verbs depending on how they are used:<\/p>\n
GO<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verb when describing a change\/transformation:\n
- \n
- He\u00a0went\u00a0<\/strong>bald at 40 years old.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Action verb when someone is going to another place:\n
- \n
- He\u00a0went\u00a0<\/strong>to the store.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
GET<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verb when describing a change\/transformation:\n
- \n
- I\u00a0got\u00a0<\/strong>angry when he insulted me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Action verb when receiving, buying, or other actions:\n
- \n
- I\u00a0got\u00a0<\/strong>gifts for my birthday.\u00a0(received)<\/em><\/li>\n
- I\u00a0got\u00a0<\/strong>this T-shirt in New York.\u00a0(bought)<\/em><\/li>\n
- I\u00a0got\u00a0<\/strong>out of the car.\u00a0(left)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
LOOK<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verb when describing something’s appearance:\n
- \n
- The Christmas decorations\u00a0looked\u00a0<\/strong>spectacular.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Action verb when describing a person actively looking at\/for something:\n
- \n
- We\u00a0looked\u00a0<\/strong>at the beautiful Christmas lights.<\/li>\n
- He’s\u00a0looking\u00a0<\/strong>for a job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/people-2597072_640.jpg\")
The Christmas lights LOOKED spectacular. (linking verb – describes a quality of the lights). I LOOKED at the Christmas lights (action verb – describes an action I did)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n SMELL \/ TASTE \/ FEEL<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verbs when describing a quality of the subject:\n
- \n
- The milk\u00a0smells\u00a0<\/strong>bad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Action verbs when describing a person actively using their senses:\n
- \n
- I’m\u00a0smelling\u00a0<\/strong>the milk to see if it has gone bad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
REMAIN \/ STAY \/ KEEP<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verbs when talking about “continuing to be” a certain way:\n
- \n
- She\u00a0remained\/stayed\u00a0<\/strong>awake all night.<\/li>\n
- They\u00a0kept\u00a0<\/strong>calm during the emergency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Action verbs when describing not moving, or possessing\n
- \n
- She\u00a0remained\/stayed\u00a0<\/strong>at the hospital all night.<\/li>\n
- They\u00a0kept\u00a0<\/strong>their old car for many years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/keep-calm-and-carry-on-7264704_640-233x300.jpg\")
“Keep” is a linking verb when talking about continuing to be a certain way. “Keep calm” = continue to be calm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n ACT<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verb when talking about someone’s behavior:\n
- \n
- He\u00a0acted\u00a0<\/strong>surprised, even though he already knew about the party.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Action verb when talking about participating in a play \/ show \/ movie:\n
- \n
- He\u00a0acted\u00a0<\/strong>in the local theater’s performance of\u00a0Phantom of the Opera.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
FALL<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verb when talking about becoming, especially in the expressions “fall silent” and “fall ill”:\n
- \n
- The crowd fell\u00a0<\/strong>silent as the president began to speak.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Action verb when talking about something going down:\n
- \n
- I hurt my elbow when I fell\u00a0<\/strong>off my bike.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
PROVE<\/strong><\/h4>\n
- \n
- Linking verb when talking about something being a certain way:\n
- \n
- Fixing the car\u00a0proved\u00a0<\/strong>difficult.
\n(this is often used in the structure “proved to be… difficult \/ wise \/ important \/ etc.)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n- Action verb when talking about showing\/demonstrating truth:\n
- \n
- The experiment\u00a0proved\u00a0<\/strong>that the scientist’s theory was correct.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Learn more about linking verbs<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
Learn about helping verbs (also called “auxiliary verbs”)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
\nLearn English Grammar In Detail:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Advanced](\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/aegc-1024x780.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLearn more about this course<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/center><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are linking verbs? Linking verbs do not describe an action – instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing additional information about it. For example: I\u00a0feel tired.\u00a0(“tired” describes me) He\u00a0seems\u00a0annoyed\u00a0(“annoyed” describes him) She\u00a0is\u00a0a teacher.\u00a0(“a teacher” describes her) They\u00a0are\u00a0students. (“students” describes them) What follows the linking verb is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar"],"yoast_head":"\n
Linking Verbs: List and Examples - Espresso English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are linking verbs? Linking verbs do not describe an action - instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Linking Verbs: List and Examples\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are linking verbs? Linking verbs do not describe an action - instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Espresso English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-10T15:56:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-16T19:19:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shayna Oliveira\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shayna Oliveira\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shayna Oliveira\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b92f17848e26e2ccdb617df724d13300\"},\"headline\":\"Linking Verbs: List and Examples\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-10T15:56:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-16T19:19:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/\"},\"wordCount\":940,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Grammar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/\",\"name\":\"Linking Verbs: List and Examples - Espresso English\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-10T15:56:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-16T19:19:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"What are linking verbs? Linking verbs do not describe an action - instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Linking Verbs: List and Examples\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/\",\"name\":\"Espresso English\",\"description\":\"Learn English online in 15 minutes a day\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Espresso English\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/LOGO-TRANSPARENT-70h.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/LOGO-TRANSPARENT-70h.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Espresso English\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b92f17848e26e2ccdb617df724d13300\",\"name\":\"Shayna Oliveira\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7db3aeddf581019286aa87cba7d6296961b5f4385bcdc7edff74a2337a45f980?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7db3aeddf581019286aa87cba7d6296961b5f4385bcdc7edff74a2337a45f980?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shayna Oliveira\"},\"description\":\"Shayna Oliveira is the founder of Espresso English, where you can improve your English fast - even if you don\u2019t have much time to study. Millions of students are learning English from her clear, friendly, and practical lessons! Shayna is a CELTA-certified teacher with 10+ years of experience helping English learners become more fluent in her English courses.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Linking Verbs: List and Examples - Espresso English","description":"What are linking verbs? Linking verbs do not describe an action - instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Linking Verbs: List and Examples","og_description":"What are linking verbs? Linking verbs do not describe an action - instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing","og_url":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/","og_site_name":"Espresso English","article_published_time":"2023-12-10T15:56:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-16T19:19:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Shayna Oliveira","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shayna Oliveira","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/"},"author":{"name":"Shayna Oliveira","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b92f17848e26e2ccdb617df724d13300"},"headline":"Linking Verbs: List and Examples","datePublished":"2023-12-10T15:56:25+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-16T19:19:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/"},"wordCount":940,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg","articleSection":["Grammar"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/","url":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/","name":"Linking Verbs: List and Examples - Espresso English","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg","datePublished":"2023-12-10T15:56:25+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-16T19:19:39+00:00","description":"What are linking verbs? Linking verbs do not describe an action - instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/linking-verbs.jpg","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/linking-verbs-list-and-examples\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Linking Verbs: List and Examples"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/","name":"Espresso English","description":"Learn English online in 15 minutes a day","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#organization","name":"Espresso English","url":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/LOGO-TRANSPARENT-70h.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/LOGO-TRANSPARENT-70h.png","width":300,"height":70,"caption":"Espresso English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/person\/b92f17848e26e2ccdb617df724d13300","name":"Shayna Oliveira","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7db3aeddf581019286aa87cba7d6296961b5f4385bcdc7edff74a2337a45f980?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7db3aeddf581019286aa87cba7d6296961b5f4385bcdc7edff74a2337a45f980?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shayna Oliveira"},"description":"Shayna Oliveira is the founder of Espresso English, where you can improve your English fast - even if you don\u2019t have much time to study. Millions of students are learning English from her clear, friendly, and practical lessons! Shayna is a CELTA-certified teacher with 10+ years of experience helping English learners become more fluent in her English courses."}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Action verb when talking about showing\/demonstrating truth:\n
- Fixing the car\u00a0proved\u00a0<\/strong>difficult.
- Linking verb when talking about something being a certain way:\n
- Action verb when talking about something going down:\n
- The crowd fell\u00a0<\/strong>silent as the president began to speak.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Linking verb when talking about becoming, especially in the expressions “fall silent” and “fall ill”:\n
- Action verb when talking about participating in a play \/ show \/ movie:\n
- He\u00a0acted\u00a0<\/strong>surprised, even though he already knew about the party.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- They\u00a0kept\u00a0<\/strong>their old car for many years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- They\u00a0kept\u00a0<\/strong>calm during the emergency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- She\u00a0remained\/stayed\u00a0<\/strong>awake all night.<\/li>\n
- Linking verbs when talking about “continuing to be” a certain way:\n
- Action verbs when describing a person actively using their senses:\n
- The milk\u00a0smells\u00a0<\/strong>bad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- He’s\u00a0looking\u00a0<\/strong>for a job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Action verb when describing a person actively looking at\/for something:\n
- The Christmas decorations\u00a0looked\u00a0<\/strong>spectacular.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- I\u00a0got\u00a0<\/strong>this T-shirt in New York.\u00a0(bought)<\/em><\/li>\n
- Action verb when receiving, buying, or other actions:\n
- I\u00a0got\u00a0<\/strong>angry when he insulted me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Linking verb when describing a change\/transformation:\n
- Action verb when someone is going to another place:\n
- He\u00a0went\u00a0<\/strong>bald at 40 years old.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Your plan\u00a0sounds\u00a0<\/strong>great!<\/li>\n
- He\u00a0appears\u00a0<\/strong>unhappy.<\/li>\n
- The weather\u00a0gets\u00a0<\/strong>cold around November.<\/li>\n
- They\u00a0are\u00a0<\/strong>friendly.<\/li>\n
- I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/strong>hungry.<\/li>\n
- predicate nouns\u00a0<\/strong>– when what follows the linking verb is a noun (ex. a teacher, students) or a noun phrase (ex. a teacher at the local college)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n