Download The Linking Verb and the Subject Complement

How We String Words Together
1
How We String Words Together
The Subject
Whenever we put pen to paper or whenever we speak, we talk about things, or about some thing in particular. In
grammatical terminology the thing is called a SUBJECT.
S
The bear ambled down the roadside.
No sentence can be written without a SUBJECT except a command like “Get out of the way!”
In commands the subject is understood as “you” as in “You get out of the way.”
The Predicate
In order to explain what the SUBJECT is doing, we need a PREDICATE. The predicate is always a VERB.
S
P
P
The bear stopped and sniffed the air.
If the subject is not doing anything, and we only want to describe it we use a LINKING VERB, which will link
the SUBJECT to another word which describes the subject:
S
P
(describing word)
The bear appeared untroubled by the passing cars.
“Stopping” and “sniffing” are different than “appearing” in that they are actions whereas the latter word is
simply a STATE OF BEING. The first two verbs are called ACTION VERBS; the third is called a LINKING
VERB.
The Action Verb and the Direct Object
Sometimes when a SUBJECT acts, it acts upon another thing. This thing is called the DIRECT OBJECT.
S
ADV
P
D.O.
The bear absently turned over a McDonald’s bag someone had thrown into the ditch.
Sidepoint: When looking for the DIRECT OBJECT in a sentence ask the question “what?” What did the bear turn over?
Whatever answers this question will be the DIRECT OBJECT.
Sometimes when a SUBJECT acts, it simply acts and there is no DIRECT OBJECT.
S
P
Finding nothing of interest, the bear loped off.
How We String Words Together
2
In the first sentence, the bear acts upon a “bag”, but in the second it doesn’t act upon the “off”. The verb in the
first sentence is therefore said to be TRANSITIVE, while the verb in the second sentence is said to be
INTRANSITIVE.
The Linking Verb and the Subject Complement
LINKING VERBS link the subject to a word that describes the subject. They are inactive verbs. They exist
simply to give us greater versatility in describing things. At this point the writer could simply state,
ADJ NOUN
Hungry bear.
By re-writing this adjective / noun statement to include a LINKING VERB we can make it a complete sentence.
S P
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT.
The bear was hungry.
The LINKING VERB “was” attaches the subject to another word “hungry”, which is called a SUBJECT
COMPLEMENT.
A HELPING VERB in addition to the LINKING VERB will help give the sentence the exact meaning intended.
H.V M.V. S.C.
The bear was getting hungrier.
LINKING and HELPING VERBS give us greater versatility in describing things than does a language made
simply of adjectives and nouns. Even if “Hungry bear” was adequate in a particular instance, we wouldn’t want
to say that because it breaks the fluency and rhythm created by a SUBJECT/ PREDICATE language.
Here are the LINKING VERBS. Notice that many of them pertain to the five senses.
is, am, are, was, were, be, become, seem, look, appear, smell, taste, sound, feel
Sidepoint: If you are looking at a sentence and are not sure if the VERB is an ACTION or a LINKING VERB, try replacing it with
“is” or a form of “is” (like “was” “were” “am” etc). If the sentence still works, the VERB is a LINKING VERB.
Here are HELPING VERBS. Since HELPING VERBS also help ACTION VERBS they should not be confused
with LINKING VERBS.
am, is, are, was, were, be, has, have, had, do, does, did
How We String Words Together
3
The Prepositional Phrase
It is sometimes necessary –to position the thing or the action of the sentence in a time or a place. Small groups
of words called PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES will help us do that.
P
ADV
PREP
PREP
The bear looked longingly [across the road] [at the churning river] where the salmon jumped.
The prepositional phrases help position the action of where the bear is looking. More accurately speaking,
prepositional phrases act as ADVERBS or ADJECTIVES.
P PREP (adv) PREP (adj)
P
PREP (adv)
The bear waited [for a break] [in traffic] before it set foot [on the road].
“for a break” modifies “waited” / “in traffic” modifies “break” / “on the road” modifies “set”
The PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE should never be confused with the SUBJECT, even though it can come right
before the PREDICATE.
S
PREP (adj)
P
D.O.
P
PREP (adv)
A car [with six passengers] approached the bear and skidded [to a stop].
Prepositional phrases can be easily recognized because they are short and they always begin with a preposition
and end with a noun (a.k.a. the OBJECT of the PREPOSITION). The first nine prepositions in the following list
are the most common.
of, in, to, for, at, from, on, with, by, about, near, under, over, through, beside, between, among, against,
above, behind
The Indirect Object
Closely related to the prepositional phrase is the INDIRECT OBJECT. This object receives the DIRECT
OBJECT.
S
P
I.O
D.O.
A passing lumber truck gave the car a startled horn blast.
Written another way the INDIRECT OBJECT becomes a PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE:
D.O. PREP
A passing lumber truck shot a startled horn blast [at the car].
How We String Words Together
4
The Conjunction
Simple sentences – those sentences consisting only of a SUBJECT and PREDICATE and assorted phrases –
become boring if too many of them are strung together in a row. Writing appears more fluent if simple
sentences are combined by CONJUCTIONS (joining words). The most common conjunctions are “and” and
“but”.
S
P
C
S
P
The passengers screamed and the bear jumped back.
and and but along with or/nor, for, yet, and so are called CO-ORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS because they join
different grammatical elements of equal value. In the case above, the conjunction and joins two CLAUSES.
Sidepoint #1: A CLAUSE is a group of words that has a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE. A PHRASE is a group of words without a
SUBJECT or a PREDICATE or both. A sentence is made up of CLAUSES and PHRASES.
Sidepoint #2: Never begin a SENTENCE with a CO-ORDINATE CONJUNCTION
CO-ORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS also join elements within a clause, like subjects or predicates – as is shown
in CLAUSE 2 of the following example where two predicates are joined with “and”.
CLAUSE 1
CLAUSE 2
Adv P
S
PREP (adv) C
S
P
D.O C
P#2
There was a mad scramble [within the car] and the passengers locked the doors and shrank away
PREP (adv)
[from the windows].
The clauses in the sentence above could stand alone as individual sentences and still make sense; that’s what
makes them co-ordinate. Not all clauses can do so. Some clauses come in pairs and work together to
accomplish one statement. These clauses are joined by a SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTION. The clause that
follows the SUB.CON. is called a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE.
SUBORDINATE CLAUSES that begin with who, whom, whose, which, or that usually act as ADJECTIVES
because they help describe a NOUN in the sentence. They are therefore called ADJECTIVE CLAUSES.
S
SUB. CLAUSE
H.V M.V
The driver, who had never seen a bear, didn’t know what it would do.
In the sentence above, the SUBORDINATE (adjective) CLAUSE is in bold. It describes “the driver”.
How We String Words Together
5
Sidepoint: Adj. clauses allow us to inject information into the middle of a sentence so we don’t need two simple sentences
in a row, which create a choppy effect in longer passages. Too many adj. clauses, however, can slow down the flow of a piece
of writing.
The sentence above contains another type SUBORDINATE CLAUSE. It begins with “what”. The CLAUSE
“what it would do” answers the question “What did the driver know?” or in this case, “What did the driver not
know?” The entire CLAUSE then is functioning as a DIRECT OBJECT. SUBORDINATE CLAUSES that
function as NOUNS are called NOUN CLAUSES. NOUN CLAUSES can also function as SUBJECTS,
OBJECTS of the PREPOSITION, and SUBJECT COMPLEMENTS. Most commonly NOUN CLAUSES begin
with that or what, but they can begin with whatever, who, whoever, whomever, where, when, how, and why.
Finally, we have one more type of SUBORDINATE CLAUSE. This clause gives information about the action
taking place in the other clause – its partner clause.
S#1
APPOSITIVE PHRASE
P#1
C
S#2
The driver, [a teenage boy in a Blue Jays cap], tried to reverse the car, but when the bear
P#2
S#3 P#3
S
P
PREP
S#2
PREP
P#2
roared, he stalled the engine. As he fumbled [with the keys], a little girl [in the backseat] began to cry.
The subordinate clauses (in bold) tell us something more about the action taking place in the main clauses. The
driver didn’t just happen to stall the engine, he stalled it when, and only when, the bear roared. Again, the girl
didn’t just begin to cry, she cried as the driver fumbled with the keys. Because this type of SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE helps modify a verb, in this case “stalled” and “cry” it is called an ADVERB CLAUSE.
Here are some common SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS that begin ADVERB CLAUSES:
after
although
as
as if
as long as
as though
because
before
if
in order that
provided
since
so that
than
though
till
unless
until
when
whenever
Sidepoint: Using Adv. Clauses is a great way to vary sentence structure.
where
wherever
while
How We String Words Together
6
The Verb
To finish things off, we need to look some more at the VERB and all its uses. First, let’s look at VERBS as
NOUNS:
Crying wasn’t doing anybody any good. What she needed to do, she decided, was distract the bear.
Here, the verb “crying” is functioning as a NOUN, and also as the SUBJECT of the sentence. When VERBS
become NOUNS they are called GERUNDS.
Next, let’s look at VERBS as ADJECTIVES:
The girl in the backseat threw a candy bar out of the window. The distracted bear forgot about the car
and its inhabitants.
Here, the verb “distracted” is functioning as an ADJECTIVE. When VERBS become ADJECTIVES they are
called PARTICIPLES. Participles can be used alone or in small phrases to describe things within a sentence.
The phrases are called PARTICIPIAL PHRASES.
Seizing the moment, the driver re-started the car and backed up.
It may not look like it, but the phrase “seizing the moment” is functioning as an adjective to describe “the
driver”. What kind of a driver is he? He’s a “seizing the moment” kind of driver.
Sidepoint: Participial phrases add variety to a long passage and have the added bonus of speeding up the action – because
they begin with a verb.
PART. PHRASE
PART. PHRASE
S
P
Stepping on the gas and wrenching the wheel, the driver spun back out onto the road.
And finally, we have the grandparent of all VERBS: the INFINITIVE. (It’s a verb with the word “to” in front of
it.)
If the bear wanted to eat, the driver would help him do that. He blocked the lane and let it cross the
road.
All the verbs related to “eat” (eating, has eaten, will eat, ate – and so on) are all forms stemming from the
infinitive “to eat”.