Being Verb
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A Being Verb is a Copula that signals a strong Identity Relation between the Sentence Subject and the Sentence Predicate (Subject Complement or Adverbial).
- AKA: State-of-Being-Verb, To Be.
- …
- Example(s):
isin: “He [is] running fast” (where running fast is a Participial Phrase).isin: "Jim [is] an epicurean.” (where epicurean is a Subjective Complement).isin: “It'[s] delicious!”wasin: “He [was] fast”.arein: “We [are] upset with you”.- …
- Counter-Example(s):
- “We upset at you”, is a Zero Copula Sentence in African American Vernacular English.
- “We have been to Canada twice.”, no Predicate.
- “Jim [became] epicurean.”, is a Linking Verb.
- See: Be Verb, Linking Verb, Gerund Phrase, Present Participle Phrase.
References
2009
- (WordNet, 2009) ⇒ http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=linking%20verb
- S: (n) copula, copulative, linking verb (an equating verb (such as `be' or `become') that links the subject with the complement of a sentence)
- (WordNet, 2009) ⇒ http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=be
- S: (v) be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)) "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"
- S: (v) be (be identical to; be someone or something) "The president of the company is John Smith"; "This is my house"
- S: (v) be (occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere) "Where is my umbrella?" "The toolshed is in the back"; "What is behind this behavior?"
- S: (v) exist, be (have an existence, be extant) "Is there a God?"
- http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/be
- (Wikipedia, 2009) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copula_(linguistics)
- In linguistics, a copula is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate (a subject complement or an adverbial). Although it might not itself express an action or condition, it serves to equate (or associated the subject with the predicate. The word 'copula' originates from the Latin noun for a "link or tie" that connects two different things (for a short history of the copula see the appendix to Moro 1997 and references cited there).
- A copula is sometimes (though not always) a verb or a verb-like part of speech. In English primary education grammar courses, a copula is often called a linking verb.
- The term is generally used to refer to the main copular verb in the language: in the case of English, this is to be. It can also be used to refer to all such verbs in the language: in that case, English copulae include "to be", "to become", "to get", "to feel", and "to seem". Other verbs have secondary uses as copulative verbs, as fall in "The zebra fell victim to the lion."
- (Wikipedia, 2009) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_copulae
- act "Tom acted suspicious."
- appear "Bill appears satisfied, but really is not."
- arrive "The teenager arrived early at the party."[1]
- be "Tom is a coward."
- become (inchoative) "Tom became wealthy."
- bleed "Tom bleeds blue."
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