Test Practice: Linking Verbs Can Be Action Verbs

Designate which of the following verbs are action and which are linking. A linking verb links the subject with another word that renames or describes the subject. Those words that are usually linking verbs are AM, IS, ARE, WAS, WERE, BE, BEING, BEEN (although they can be helpers like in AM GOING). There are some verbs that can be ACTION or LINKING: appear, feel, grow, look, prove,remain, smell, sound, taste, and turn. 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. 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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