Linking Verbs: List and Examples

Linking verbs do not describe an action – instead, they connect the subject of the sentence to a word describing it or providing additional information about it. For example:

• I feel tired. (“tired” describes me)
• He seems annoyed (“annoyed” describes him)
• She is a teacher. (“a teacher” describes her)
• They are students. (“students” describes them)

What follows the linking verb is called a “subject complement” because it describes the subject of the sentence. There are two types:

• predicate adjectives – when what follows the linking verb is an adjective (ex. tired, annoyed) or an adjective phrase (ex. annoyed about the delay)
• predicate nouns – when what follows the linking verb is a noun (ex. a teacher, students) or a noun phrase (ex. a teacher at the local college)

Linking verbs list

Most linking verbs are related to BEING, BECOMING, and how things appear to our five senses:

• be – including all its forms (am / are / is in the present tense; was / were in the past tense, etc.)
• become/get/grow/turn (when talking about a change/transformation)
• seem
• appear
• look
• smell
• sound
• taste
• feel

These are the most common ones; there are a few others that are only occasionally linking verbs, as you’ll see in the section on verbs that can be both!

Linking verbs: examples

Let’s see some example sentences using linking verbs to connect the subject of the sentence to its description (the subject complement):

BE:

• I am hungry.
• They are friendly.
• He is a native English speaker.
• The movie was funny.
• My parents are retired now, but they were both doctors.
  (two linking verbs here! One is followed by a predicate adjective – retired – and the other by a predicate noun – doctors)
• The festival will be awesome!
• We‘ve been busy lately.

“Be” is a linking verb when it is the main verb, followed by an adjective (hungry, awesome, busy) or a noun (a native English speaker, doctors).

“Be” functions as a helping verb when followed by a continuous form (I am studying) or a past participle as in the passive voice (The documents were stolen).

BECOME / GET / GROW / TURN / GO:

These are linking verbs when talking about change or transformation:

• She became a famous author later in life.
• The weather gets cold around November.
• They grew impatient after waiting for three hours.
• His face turned red with embarrassment.
• The crowd went crazy when the player scored a goal.

SEEM / APPEAR / LOOK:

• The children seem content.
• He appears unhappy.
• That roller coaster looks scary.

SMELL / SOUND / TASTE / FEEL:

Verbs that can be both

Some of the verbs listed above can be linking verbs or action verbs depending on how they are used:

GO

• Linking verb when describing a change/transformation:
  • He went bald at 40 years old.
  • He went to the store.

  GET

  • Linking verb when describing a change/transformation:
    • I got angry when he insulted me.
    • I got gifts for my birthday. (received)
    • I got this T-shirt in New York. (bought)
    • I got out of the car. (left)

    LOOK

    

    • Linking verb when describing something’s appearance:
      • The Christmas decorations looked spectacular.
    • Action verb when describing a person actively looking at/for something:
      • We looked at the beautiful Christmas lights.
      • He’s looking for a job.

    SMELL / TASTE / FEEL

    • Linking verbs when describing a quality of the subject:
      • The milk smells bad.
      • I’m smelling the milk to see if it has gone bad.

      REMAIN / STAY / KEEP

      

      • Linking verbs when talking about “continuing to be” a certain way:
        • She remained/stayed awake all night.
        • They kept calm during the emergency.
      • Action verbs when describing not moving, or possessing
        • She remained/stayed at the hospital all night.
        • They kept their old car for many years.

      ACT

      • Linking verb when talking about someone’s behavior:
        • He acted surprised, even though he already knew about the party.
        • He acted in the local theater’s performance of Phantom of the Opera.

        FALL

        • Linking verb when talking about becoming, especially in the expressions “fall silent” and “fall ill”:
          • The crowd fell silent as the president began to speak.
          • I hurt my elbow when I fell off my bike.

          PROVE

          • Linking verb when talking about something being a certain way:
            • Fixing the car proved difficult.
              (this is often used in the structure “proved to be… difficult / wise / important / etc.)
            • The experiment proved that the scientist’s theory was correct.