link verbs
Some verbs are followed by either a noun or an adjective:
| She was a good friend. | = | N + V + N |
| She was very happy. | = | N + V + Adj. |
| He became headmaster. | = | N + V + N |
| He became angry. | = | N + V + Adj. |
These verbs are called link verbs. Common verbs like this are:
- be
- become
- appear
- feel
- look
- remain
- seem
- sound
She seemed an intelligent woman.
She seemed intelligent.
He looked hungry.
He looked a good player.
After appear and seem we often use to be:
She appeared to be an intelligent woman.
He seemed to be angry.
Some link verbs are followed by an adjective. Common verbs like this are:
- get
- go
- grow
- taste
- smell
He got hungry in the evening.
She grew stronger every day.
English Grammar
- Pronouns
- Determiners and quantifiers
- Possessives
- Adjectives
- Adverbials
- Nouns
- Verbs
- irregular verbs
- question forms
- verb phrases
- present tense
- past tense
- perfective aspect
- continuous aspect
- active and passive voice
- to + infinitive
- -ing forms
- talking about the present
- talking about the past
- talking about the future
- verbs in time clauses and if clauses
- wishes and hypotheses
- the verb be
- link verbs
- delexical verbs like have, take, make and give
- Modal verbs
- double object verbs
- phrasal verbs
- reflexive and ergative verbs
- verbs followed by to + infinitive
- verbs followed by -ing clauses
- verbs followed by that clause
- Clause, phrase and sentence
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Comments
Hi
I am glad to have made mistakes in this exercise, it means; I learn. Thanks
Thank you so much dear Mr. Stephen.
Hello,
Could you please tell why there is "feels strange" instead of "seems strange" in the sentence - "It feels strange to be back here after so many years"?
Thank you in advance
Hello Malika,
In my experience, students of English find the differences in these words quite confusing, especially as native speakers don't always follow the rules!
Verbs like 'feel' and 'seem' are also known as 'perception verbs' or 'verbs of sensation'.
In the example, we use 'feel' because the speaker wants to describe his/her feelings or emotions. 'Seem' is better used when the speaker wants to describe the appearance or general perception of something.
However, it's not the clearest example to use in the exercise and so we've changed it for another sentence.
I hope this helps to clarify things a little for you.
Best wishes,
Stephen
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Stephen,
I come from in Viet Nam, I like learning English language very much, I also can speak Japanese language.
I have just took part in the web site, It is useful, I like it, would you mind if i ask you some my trouble in learning English.
Best regards,
Dung
The exercise maybe have some problems!
The sentence "It isn't a chicken, but it tastes like chicken.“ appears twice in the exercise!
Hello Zhao Wei,
You really love grammar! Thanks for telling us about this error. I've fixed it now.
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team