A singular linking verbs in English is a part of speech that expresses action or state as a process. It is characterized by the grammatical categories of tense, inflection, voice and others.
In English, verbs can have two categories of forms: personal (Finite Forms) and non-personal (Verbals). The finite forms of English verbs express person, number, tense, inflection, and voice. The non-personal verb forms express action without the indication of person, number and inflection. The non-personal forms of a verb include the Infinitive, the Participle and the Gerund.
Verbs can be categorized into simple, derivative, compound and compound.
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Simple English verbs do not have suffixes or prefixes, e.g. to go, to say, to read.
Derivative verbs have affixes (prefixes, suffixes, or both): to unbutton, to unbutton, to activate.
Compound verbs are formed by combining two words into one: to browbeat, to intimidate, to hitchhike.
Compound verbs include combinations of verbs with adverbs or prepositions (such verbs are called phrasal verbs): to give up – to give up, to pass away – to die, to pass out – to faint.
According to their meaning and the function they perform in a sentence, verbs are divided into:
– Denominative/Significant Verbs (Notional Verbs).
Native verbs have their own lexical meaning, they function as sentence members and can also be simple predicates. Most English verbs belong to this group. – Auxiliary Verbs. More: https://argoprep.com/blog/suffixes-the-chameleon-part-of-speech/.
Verbs in this group do not have a meaning of their own and are used to form analytical verb forms. These verbs include be, have, do, shall, should, will, would.
For example, the verb to be is used to form the Continuous Tenses and the Passive Voice
She is cooking dinner now. – She is cooking dinner now.
The book is read. – The book is read.
– Linking verbs (Linking Verbs).
Linking verbs are, for example, be, become, grow, get, turn, look. They are auxiliary verbs and can be used as predicate clauses.
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It is getting dark. – It is getting dark. It is getting dark.
– Modal verbs (Modal Verbs).
Modal verbs do not express an action, but the speaker’s attitude towards the statement. Modal verbs are can/could, should/ought to, may/might, have to, must, to be able to, will/would, need, shall/should, to be to.
John can’t swim. – John can’t swim.
You should go to the doctor. – You should go to the doctor.
All semantic English verbs are divided into transitive and non-transitive verbs.
Transitive verbs are verbs with the meaning of action that extends to an object, person or phenomenon and can have 1) a direct complement, 2) a direct and an indirect complement, 3) a prepositional complement.
1) She bought a new dress. – She bought a new dress.
2) He gave me a book. – He gave me a book.
3) Lucy looks after the dog. – Lucy looks after the dog.
Non-transitive verbs are verbs denoting an action that does not imply the object to which it is directed. These verbs have no complement.
He goes to school every day. – He goes to school every day.
Some English verbs can be transitive in one sense, but non-transitive in another.
He changed his clothes. – He changed his clothes.
We all change. – We all change.
There is also a separate group of verbs in English, which are phrasal verbs (Phrasal Verbs). Phrasal verbs are stable combinations of verb + adverb, verb + preposition, or verb + adverb with preposition.
