Transcript The verb BE and other copular (linking) verbs
The verb BE and other copular (linking) verbs
Sandra Powell
The purpose of this Powerpoint is...
1. to look deeper into the function of the verb BE in English. What does it mean, and what roles does it play in sentences?
2. to explain the category of copular or linking verbs. BE is the most common of these verbs in English.
Forms of BE
BE has 2 more forms than other verbs in modern English. Looking at the chart below, can you identify: which are the 2 extra forms, that other verbs don’t have ?
Present
• am • is • are I am. I am not.
He is, she is, it is Is not OR isn’t We/you/they are. Are not OR aren’t
Past
• was wasn’t I /you/he/she/it was. Was not OR • were weren’t We/you/they were. Were not OR
Principal parts in other tenses
• be will be; can be • being is being; was being; being • been has been; could have been
What makes BE different: what are the 2 extra forms?
Present
• am Other verbs have only 2 forms in • is present tense. Usually “I” uses the • are same form as we/you/they.
Past
• was Other verbs have only 1 past tense • were form, so there is no S/V agreement
Principal parts in other tenses
• be will be; can be • being is being; was being; being • been has been; could have been
Extremely irregular BE
The other odd thing about the forms of BE is that they aren’t based on the root form BE at all. Most verbs inflect the base form: WALK; walks, walked, walking, walked Even irregular verbs have some relation to the base: FORGET: forgets, forgot, forgetting, forgotten
BE being, been, am, is, are,
(what happened to the B in BE?)
was, were
(where did the W come from?)
This is a good reason to teach BE separately from other verbs, with more attention to memorizing the different forms and associating them as related forms.
A learner couldn’t use rules to guess that these forms are all related: I’m thinking / You are late / Attendance is being taken / It’s been a long time / the animals were sleeping / it was awesome!
But if you know the form WALK you’re likely to understand the meaning of the word when you hear or read it in its other forms. There’s no need to memorize them separately.
A man was walking / they walked into the room / I’ve always walked to school / a crab walks sideways
No need to memorize forms. Rules apply.
What does “be” mean?
Teachers are confused when learners ask this. And learners do ask this, strange as it seems.
“Be” doesn’t seem to have any type of meaning that we can explain. A dictionary is no help....
Definition of BE
intransitive verb 1 a : to equal in meaning : have the same connotation as : symbolize
What does “be” mean?
BE has almost no stand-alone meaning.
It carries grammatical information.
It’s a placeholder, filling certain slots that are required in an English sentence.....
What happens when you take out a form of BE? You don’t lose any of the meaning and it’s still perfectly understandable .
I am very happy.
The toilet is overflowing!
It was cold yesterday.
What does “be” mean?
What happens when you take out a form of BE? You don’t lose any of the meaning and it’s still perfectly understandable I am very happy.
The toilet is overflowing!
It was cold yesterday.
.
Learners tend not to use BE in sentences like these, especially in early stages of language acquisition.
This makes perfect sense... If you want to communicate, but you don’t have much language to work with, stick with the words that carry a lot of meaning! (Ellis and Thornbury both mention that beginners process and communicate lexically. Grammar comes later)
What does “be” mean?
Linking verb BE
I’m happy.
It has been cold recently.
The Olympics will be in Russia next year.
The bus was late. We have to define BE in terms of its function: the grammatical meaning it carries.
One hypothesis about why English requires BE in sentences where it is the main verb: BE carries the tense.
In English, adjectives, nouns, and prepositional phrases don’t express tense. So BE gives us a place to hang the tense in S V SC sentences.
What functions does BE have?
What learners really need to know about BE....
BE has almost no stand-alone meaning.
It carries grammatical information.
It’s a placeholder, filling certain slots that are required in an English sentence.....
Two functions for BE: 1.
2.
As a helping verb (also called auxiliary ) in some verb tenses As the main verb in S V SC type sentences. Verbs in S V SC are called linking or copular verbs.
BE as a helping verb /auxiliary How to recognize it
When there is a form of BE used with
another verb in V-
ing, BE is auxiliary. It’s part of PROGRESSIVE tenses. When you identify the verb in the sentence, include the main verb and the auxiliary or auxiliaries Examples: Birds are singing in the trees.
A small boy was kicking the back of my chair.
Oh, no! This can’t be happening!
BE as a helping verb /auxiliary How to recognize it
When there is a form of BE used
with a past participle of
another verb, BE is auxiliary. It’s part of passive voice.
Examples: Attendance was taken at the meeting.
Some of the best coffee is produced in Colombia.
The elevator is being repaired.
Practice analyzing the functions of BE.
1. Find all the forms of BE in this news story A beaver is being blamed for a small brush fire that broke out at Lougheed Highway and 105th Avenue in Maple Ridge Monday afternoon.
Maple Ridge Fire Chief Peter Grootendorst said the fire started when a tree fell on some live power lines, sparking a fire.
Grootendorst said it was immediately apparent why the tree went down.
"The crews on scene reported that there were definite markings on the tree that the beaver had been working on the tree," he said.
"Now, whether it was just recent or if a gust of wind came up and the tree was already weakened, we're not sure." No beaver sightings were reported.
"But his work was definitely there," Grootendorst said.
Source: Beaver blamed for brush fire in BC suburb, Cbc News, June 10, 2013
Practice analyzing the functions of BE.
1. Find all the forms of BE in this news story A beaver is being blamed for a small brush fire that broke out at Lougheed Highway and 105th Avenue in Maple Ridge Monday afternoon.
Maple Ridge Fire Chief Peter Grootendorst said the fire started when a tree fell on some live power lines, sparking a fire.
Grootendorst said it was immediately apparent why the tree went down.
"The crews on scene reported that there were definite markings on the tree that the beaver had been working on the tree," he said.
"Now, whether it was just recent or if a gust of wind came up and the tree was already weakened, we're not sure." No beaver sightings were reported.
"But his work was definitely there," Grootendorst said.
Next, decide whether each form of BE is an Auxiliary or a Main Verb
A beaver fire.
is being
blam
ed
for a small brush fire that broke out at Lougheed Highway and 105th Avenue in Maple Ridge Monday afternoon.
Maple Ridge Fire Chief Peter Grootendorst said the fire started when a tree fell on some live power lines, sparking a Grootendorst said it was immediately apparent why the tree went down.
"The crews on scene reported that there were definite markings on the tree that the beaver
had been
work
ing
the tree," he said.
"Now, whether it was and the tree
was
No beaver sightings
were
"But his work was already weaken
ed
, we 're not sure." report
ed
.
definitely there," Grootendorst said.
on just recent or if a gust of wind came up
Green: auxiliary ( inflection on the main verb is also in green) Red: main verb. Linking verb
Copular (linking) verbs
What’s a subject complement? Why do we distinguish between subject complements and direct objects?
BE as a main verb
When BE is an auxiliary, it is combined with another verb.
BE carries the tense but doesn’t have much meaning.
Life is getting me down.
Life is found on every continent. BE can also be the only verb. It is not transitive or intransitive. It’s called a COPULAR or LINKING verb.
Life is precious.
Life is a journey .
What is a linking verb (copula)?
If a verb can occur in this sentence structure: S - V -
adjective
It is a
linking verb
.
The sunset
look is somber orange
. The trees and
mysterious
against the sky. It’s
getting dark.
What is a linking verb (copula)?
There is a limited set of linking verbs.
All of them take an adjective argument.
A few of them can also take a noun or prepositional phrase.
The sunset sunset
is in the west
. The
has become time of day..
my favorite
The structure and semantics of sentences with linking verbs
Argument structure: There’s only one THING or PERSON involved: the subject. What comes after the verb characterizes or re-names or describes the subject.
A linking verb is like the = in math.
The sunset
is
trees
look orange
.
somber
and The
mysterious
against the sky.
getting dark.
It ’s The sunset
has become my favorite time of day.
The structure and semantics of sentences with linking verbs
With transitive and intransitive verbs, usually there is an action. The subject is a do-er or experiencer.
There is no action with linking verbs. The subject just sits there doing nothing.
The sunset
is
trees
look orange
.
somber
and The
mysterious
against the sky.
getting dark.
It ’s The sunset
has become my favorite time of day.
There are a few other copular verbs in English. We call them copular because: 1.
2.
The subject doesn’t perform any action.. the “action” is a perception that the speaker has.
These verbs can be followed by adjectives. The adjective is a Subject Complement. Examples: Your new boyfriend Mmm, the food seems smells very nice .
good! And it tastes Bungee jumping looks dangerous.
wonderful My mom sounded The air feels very depressed cold when I talked to her.
because of the wind.
.
The structure and semantics of sentences with copular verbs
Why do we distinguish the copula from…? Sandra has brown hair. (transitive verb. S V O) Sandra’s hair is brown. (copula + ADJECTIVE. S V SC) A related question, that your learners might actually ask you, is : Why can’t we say “Sandra is brown hair”?
The structure and semantics of sentences with linking verbs
Sandra is a teacher: (linking verb + NOUN) Sandra is tired:(linking verb + ADJECTIVE) Sandra is out of shape: (copula + PREP PHRASE) Why do we distinguish these structures from…? Sandra needs a teacher (transitive verb) Sandra has brown hair. (transitive non-action verb) Sandra went phrase) out the door. (intransitive verb + prep. All of these sentences say something about Sandra .
Sandra is a teacher (linking verb + subject complement) Sandra needs a teacher (transitive verb + object) There are 2 nouns in both sentences, but in the sentence with the transitive verb, there are 2 different people! (two arguments)
The structure and semantics of sentences with linking verbs
Why do we distinguish linking verbs from…? Sandra has brown hair. (transitive non-action verb) Sandra’s hair is brown. (copula + ADJECTIVE) In English, we think of PARTS as belonging to the whole. Because Sandra and her hair are not the same thing, we say, “Sandra (the whole) HAS brown hair.” Structurally, we have 2 nouns: Sandra and her hair.
Semantically, we have 2 things: Sandra (a person) and her hair (something which belongs to Sandra)
The structure and semantics of sentences with linking verbs
Why can’t we say “Sandra is brown hair”? In English, we think of parts as BELONGING to the whole, so we use the verb “have.” The whole thing (Sandra) HAS its part (Sandra’s hair) This is what an English speaking/thinking person envisions for the sentence “Sandra is brown hair”!
A subject complement re- names the subject
Questions about the Powerpoint?
I’d be happy to talk grammar with you!
Sandra Powell