Linking verbs play a vital role in connecting the subject of a sentence to additional information that describes or identifies it. In this article, you’ll find a comprehensive list of common linking verbs along with example sentences to help you understand how they function in everyday writing and speech.
| Linking verb | Core linking sense | Example with adjective complement | Example with noun/NP complement |
|---|---|---|---|
| be (am/is/are/was/were/been/being) | identity/state | The soup is hot. | Maya is a scientist. |
| seem | apparent state | He seems tired. | — |
| appear | apparent state | The plan appears workable. | — |
| become | change of state | The sky became dark. | She became a doctor. |
| get | change of state (informal) | They got angry. | — |
| grow | gradual change of state | The room grew quiet. | — |
| turn | sudden change of state | The milk turned sour. | — |
| go | negative/undesirable change | The fruit went bad. | — |
| come | become/arrive at a state | His dream came true. | — |
| fall | become (often undesirable) | She fell silent. | — |
| run | end up in a state | The well ran dry. | — |
| prove / turn out | result/judgment | The fix proved effective. | The rumor proved a hoax. |
| remain | persist in a state | Conditions remain unstable. | — |
| stay | persist in a state | Please stay calm. | — |
| keep | maintain a state | The mix kept smooth. | — |
| look | seem visually | You look exhausted. | — |
| sound | seem by hearing | That sounds reasonable. | — |
| smell | seem by smell | The bread smells fresh. | — |
| taste | seem by taste | The soup tastes salty. | — |
| feel | seem by touch/intuition | I feel sick. | — |
| remain | continue to be | The facts remain unclear. | — |
| continue | persist in a state | Sales continued strong. | — |
| stay | persist in a place/state | The door stayed shut. | — |
| stand | be in a (figurative) state | The door stands open. | — |
| sit | be in a displayed state | The envelope sat unopened. | — |
| lie | be in a displayed state | The land lies fallow. | — |
