Writing Lab Adjectives and Adverbs Linking Verbs Linking

Writing Lab Adjectives and Adverbs – Linking Verbs

Linking verbs • Linking verbs are used to show a “state of being” of the subject, not what the subject is doing. Some of these are as follows: • The forms of be: is, am, are, was, were, been, being • The sense verbs: feel (as an emotion), look, smell, taste, sound, feel • Other verbs with linking use: appear, become, remain, stay, grow, seem

Adjectives with linking verbs • Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, specifying such things as how many, what kind, and which one. • A predicate adjective usually follows a linking verb. • • • He is strange. I am slow. The response was quick. She feels bad. We are poor. • Think of the verb as simply connecting the noun and the adjective. The adjective is describing the quality of the noun, not the quality of the verb.

Adverbs • Adverbs modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole sentence. An adverb conveys such things as how, when, where, why, and for what purpose. • Unlike the predicate adjective, this –ly modifier generally follows an action verb. • • • He talks strangely. I speak slowly. We need to act quickly. We sang badly. We speak poorly.

Bad and badly • Bad is an adjective, so it is used with a linking verb: • I feel bad about missing your graduation. • The food tastes bad. • The child is bad. • Badly is an adverb, so it is used with an action verb: • Tom writes badly. • The chef cooks badly. • The child acts badly.

Good and well • Good is an adjective: • You look good in blue. • Well is and adverb: • He get along well with his co-workers. • Well is also an adjective when it is used to refer to health: • I am not well today.

Testing your sentences • He smells bad because he smells badly. • (He has an odor because he has no sense of smell. ) • You wouldn’t say “I feel badly” because then you’re saying you are bad at feeling instead of that your emotional state is negative.

That’s all, folks! • This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series • Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon • To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson