Is Apple's advertising slogan wrong? Should it have been “Think differently”?
Linking verbs, such as “to be,” “to seem,” “to taste,” and “to look,” often describe a state of being or feeling. Usage expert Bryan Garner explains them this way: “These verbs connect a descriptive word with the subject; hence the descriptive word following the linking verb describes the subject and not the verb” (1). For instance, in the sentence “He is handsome,” the linking verb “is” connects “He,” the subject, to “handsome,” an adjective.
Now, let’s contrast linking verbs with action verbs. Action verbs, such as “to jump” and “to yell,” describe activities. If you want to describe an action verb, you need to use an adverb. If someone paid you a lot of money, you can’t say, “He paid me handsome.” You have to say, “He paid me handsomely.” In that sentence, you’re describing how he paid you—with the adverb “handsomely.” You’re not describing how cute the man is.
