The Linking verb Patterns
this is a continuation of the first post that can be found here
I’m going to also include some information on optional slots, which is something you’ll need to know for the last five sentence patterns. I was going to do intransitive verb patterns with this one but I think it deserves it’s own post and then I’ll do seven-ten together.
Linking verbs applies to all verbs other than the be verbs, and is completed by a subject compliment (an adjectival or a noun phrase)
Pattern IV: Np V-link ADJ
the students seem diligent
I grew sleepy
the soup tastes salty.
in these sentences an adjectival fills the SC slot. A form of be can be substituted for the Pattern IV linking verb with minimal change in meaning. this pattern is a common category for verbs of the sense
the soup smells good
his face looked familiar
as with pattern II an adjectival prep phrase sometimes fills the SC slot
the piano sounds out of tune.
the curry smelled out of this world.
a complete list of the verbs that pattern with SC’s include, I wouldn’t recommend memorizing this list because these verbs will show up in other verb classes. :
seen
is the only one that doesn’t have a place in other verb classes.
any of the senses
appear
become
get
prove
remain
turn
the way to recognize a linking verb is to understand the role of the subject compliment (SC). and of course recognize the structure following the verb and its relationship to the subject.
Pattern V: Np1 V-link Np1
the students became scholars
we remained friends
In this pattern a noun phrase fills the SC slot following the linking verb. the two noun phrases have the same referent, like in pattern three. very few linking verbs will fit in pattern V, most of them take only adjectivals, not noun phrases, as SC’s.
the most common are:
become
remain
a prep phrase with the word ‘like’ is more common
it seemed like a miracle
he seemed like a nice person.
the optional slots
another term for this is adverbial slot. which can appear in every sentence pattern. because sentences are grammatical without information that can answer things such as where, when, why how etc.... we can consider these elements optional.
however, Pattern I has these as a requirement.
the fans were in line (where) for tickets to the play offs (why)
the plane was on the runway (where) during the refueling stop (when)
all ten patterns can include optional adverbials, which can occur almost anywhere in the sentence.
I stopped at the deli (where) for some bagels (why?)
pattern VI
On saturday night (when) the library was almost deserted
Pattern II
our most common adverbials are simple adverbs (suddenly, quickly, here, soon, always, sometimes) and prep phrases. (at the deli, on saturday night, for some bagels)
I’ll talk more about other forms that add to adverbials later.
all adveribals are diagrammed as modifers of the verb.
but like I said, I’ll get into that later.
