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Linking and Auxiliary Verbs Lesson 27
Linking and
Auxiliary Verbs
Lesson 27
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Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
1. The Linking Verb
Linking verbs do not express action. Instead, they connect the subject of the
verb to additional information about the subject.
Keila is a shopaholic.
( Ising isn't something that Keila can do. ‘Is connects the subject,
Keila, to additional information about her, that she will soon have a
huge credit card bill to pay.)
After drinking the old milk, Vladimir turned green.
(‘Turned connects the subject, Vladimir, to something said about
him, that he needed an antacid.)
Irene always feels sleepy after pigging out on pizza.
( Feels connects the subject, Irene, to her state of being,
sleepiness.)
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Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be
[am, is, are, was, were, has been, are being, might have been, etc.],
become, and seem. These true linking verbs are always linking verbs.
Then you have a list of verbs with multiple personalities: appear,
feel, grow, look, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste, and turn.
Sometimes these verbs are linking verbs; sometimes they are action
verbs.
How do you tell when they are action verbs and when they are
linking verbs?
If you can substitute am, is, or are and the sentence still sounds logical,
you have a linking verb on your hands. If, after the substitution, the
sentence makes no sense, you are dealing with an action verb instead.
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Sylvia tasted the spicy fried chicken.
(Sylvia is the stew? I don't think so! Tasted, therefore, is an action
verb in this sentence, something Sylvia is doing.)
Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
The fried chicken tasted good.
(The chicken is good? You bet. Make your own!)
This substitution will not work for appear. With appear, you have to analyze
the function of the verb.
Swooping out of the clear blue sky, the blue jay appeared on
the branch. (Appear is something a blue jay can do—especially when food is
near.)
The blue jay appeared happy to see the bird feeder. (Here, appeared is connecting the subject, the blue jay, to its state
of mind, happiness.)
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Indicate whether the italicized verb is an action verb or a linking verb.
____________ 1. I think that the course of action you are prescribing is wrong.
____________ 2. I hear the sounds of music.
____________ 3. Never have things appeared so ominous.
____________ 4. He is a dentist.
____________ 5. It sounds fine to me.
____________ 6. The flower smells sweet.
____________ 7. I feel a sense of disaster impending.
____________ 8. The story became very sad near its end.
____________ 9. He was very angry when he was told.
____________ 10. He looks very important in his new suit
____________ 11. Claire looked at all of the questions on the exam
____________ 12. The players looked determined after a pep talk from the coach.
____________ 13. These diaries remain a precious link to the past.
____________ 14. The dog suddenly turned friendly.
____________ 15. Knives often grow dull from constant use.
Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
Choose a linking verb from the box to properly complete the sentences. Use AM, IS,
and ARE only when no other linking verb can be used.
1. The new Stevie Wonder album ____________ great.
2. Two-day-old sandwiches ____________ terrible.
3. Susan ____________ the winner.
4. Tyrone ____________ an A student.
5. They ____________ in a good mood.
6. He ____________ handsome.
7. The food ____________ good.
8. The music ____________ brassy.
9. I ____________ good.
10. He ____________ tired of running.
11. He ____________ confused.
12. He ____________ the best soccer player in the world.
13. The kitte s fur ____________ so soft. 14. You ____________ more relaxed now.
15. If you practice, you may ____________ a champion.
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Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
am
is
are
taste(s)
feel(s)
seem(s)
sound(s)
grow(s)
become(s)
like(s)
look(s)
taste(s)
smell(s)
love(s)
____________ 1. Tomorrow I must paint the new section of my fence.
____________ 2. Even a short stay at this island resort will invigorate you.
____________ 3. Our city could have become the major port of the Southeast.
____________ 4. Our company produces one of the finest computers on the market.
____________ 5. The two youngest children are hopeless bubble-gum addicts.
____________ 6. The leaves of my jade plant turned yellow.
____________ 7. Every evening Grandfather works the crossword puzzle in the local
paper.
____________ 8. Your account of the fight sounds almost unbelievable.
____________ 9. The newly cut grass smells sweet.
____________ 10. The head buyer carefully felt the texture of the cloth.
____________ 11. The cloth felt quite rough.
____________ 12. Despite the intense heat, Celia felt stronger than she had in months.
____________ 13. The secretary should have greeted the police officers.
____________ 14. In an emergency a police officer can be your best friend.
____________ 15. You should have read only the first chapter.
Identify the underlined words in the following sentences as action verbs (AV) or
linking verbs (LV).
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Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
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2. The Auxiliary Verb (Helping Verb)
Every sentence must have a verb. To depict doable activities, writers use
action verbs. To describe conditions, writers choose linking verbs.
A main or base verb indicates the type of action or condition, and
auxiliary—or helping— verbs convey the other nuances that writers want to
express.
Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
Ben smacked his lips as raspberry jelly dripped from the
doughnut onto his green shirt.
Ben is always dripping something
Since Ben is such a klutz, he should have been eating a cake
doughnut, which would not have stained his shirt.
In the first sentence, smacked and dripped, single-word verbs, describe the
quick actions of both Ben and the raspberry jelly.
Since Ben has a pattern of messiness, is dripping communicates the
frequency of his clumsiness. The auxiliary verbs that comprise should have
been eating and would have stained express not only time relationships but
also evaluation of Be s actions.
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Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
Below are the auxiliary verbs. You can conjugate be, do, and have; the modal
auxiliaries, however, never change form.
Be Do Have
am
is
are
was
were
being
been
does
do
did
has
have
had
having
Modal Auxiliaries [Never Change Form]
can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would
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Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
Understand the dual nature of be, do, and have.
Be, do, and have are both stand-alone verbs and auxiliary verbs. When these
verbs are auxiliary, you will find them teamed with other verbs to complete
the verb phrase. Compare these sentences:
We did our homework for Mrs. Long.
Did = action verb.
We re ot slackers! We did prepare our ho ework for Mrs. Long. Did = auxiliary verb; prepare = main verb completing the verb
phrase.
Selena has three fish in her aquarium.
Has = action verb.
Selena has bought a catfish to help keep the tank clean.
Has = auxiliary verb; bought = past participle completing the
verb phrase
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Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
Understand the job of modal auxiliary verbs..
Modal auxiliary verbs never change form. You cannot add an -ed, -ing, or s
ending to these words: can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should,
will, and would have only one form.
M O D A L + M A I N V E R B
M O D A L + B E + P R E S E N T P A R T I C I P L E
M O D A L + H AVE + P A S T P A R T I C I P L E
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Identify whether the verb in bold is an auxiliary or a full verb.
1. I am hungry.
2. They will help you.
3. We do not know his address.
4. My friend Amy does a lot of
sports.
5. How much is it?
6. I am reading an interesting book
at the moment.
7. Will you be there?
8. She has never been to London.
9. Does he speak English?
10. They have a cat and a dog.
Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
11. Dad is working in the garden.
12. We do the shopping once a week.
13. These students never have classes
on Fridays.
14. What do you do for a living?
15. The kids were dancing to the
music.
16. Did you see him?
17. The door is closed.
18. Where have you been?
19. My parents are on holiday.
20. I had just finished my breakfast
when the phone rang.
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Complete each sentence with the correct auxiliary verb [DO, DOES, HAVE, HAS].
1. What _________ you done?
2. I _________ not like this song.
3. _________ she know that you are
here?
4. The lesson _________ not started
yet.
5. _________ you drink milk?
6. Who _________ eaten my biscuits?
7. It _________ not matter.
8. They _________ not want to play
outside.
9. We _________ not seen you for a
long time.
10.My friend _________ sent me
some photos.
Lesson 27 – Linking and Auxiliary Verbs
11.The train _________ just
arrived.
12._________ you understand?
13.They _________ been learning
English for two years.
14._________ you heard that?
15.My uncle _________ not eat
fish.
16.I _________ not live here.
17._________ anybody rung up
for me?
18.She _________ not play the
piano.
19.How _________ we get there?
20.Where _________ he live?
The End
