Studying Sentence Patterns to Improve Your Writing, Part Two

01From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.

02In a previous Everyday Grammar story, we discussed two common sentence patterns using the word be.

03This week, we are going to give you more information about another common pattern in English, the linking verb pattern.

04To get you started with linking verb patterns, consider this passage from a story called The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by the American author F.

05Scott Fitzgerald.

06As he approached the end, his sentences became broken, became short and uncertain, and his body seemed tense, seemed strained to catch the slightest pressure or whisper of life in the spaces around him.

07By the end of this story, you will be able to recognize one major linking verb pattern that Fitzgerald uses many times in this sentence.

08Remember, a sentence has a subject and a predicate.

09A clause has a subject and a predicate, too.

10The predicate is the verb phrase.

11It has a main verb, such as a linking verb, and other words, such as a subject complement, that give more information about it.

12When you capitalize the first word of a clause and put a period at the end of it, a clause becomes a sentence.

13Keep this idea in mind because it will help you understand sentences that use several clauses.

14In the book, Rhetorical Grammar, Martha Kohn says that the term linking verbs applies to verbs that are completed by a subject complement, the adjective or noun phrase that describes the subject.

15Many grammar experts consider the verb be to be a linking verb, but Kohn says be verb patterns are sometimes different from other linking verb patterns.

16This is because adverbial information often follows be verbs, such as in the following sentence.

17My sister is at the store.

18In this case, an adverbial structure, a prepositional phrase, tells about the location of the subject, subject, my sister.

19This be pattern is one we discussed in a previous everyday grammar story.

20Subject plus be plus adverbial.

21Be plus adverbial make up the predicate.

22In contrast, the usual linking verb structure is this, subject plus linking verb plus subject complement.

23The linking verb plus subject complement make up the predicate.

24Some of the most common linking verbs are verbs of the senses.

25They include taste, smell, feel, look, and sound.

26These verbs often link an adjective to a subject.

27For example, consider these memorable lines from Dirty Harry, a famous American film.

28You've got to ask yourself one question.

29Do I feel lucky?

30Well, do ya punk?

31In the sentence, do I feel lucky?

32The adjective lucky acts as the subject complement.

33It describes the subject, I.

34If you were to answer the question, you might say this, yes, I feel lucky.

35Verbs of the senses are not the only linking verbs.

36Two other common examples of linking verbs are remain and become.

37These verbs often link a noun or noun phrase to a subject.

38Consider the opening lines from Casablanca, another classic American film.

39With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas.

40Lisbon became the great embarkation point.

41In the second sentence, Lisbon became the great embarkation point.

42You can see the basic linking verb pattern, even though the subject complement has several words.

43Lisbon is the subject of the sentence.

44The predicate has the linking verb became, as well as the noun phrase, the great embarkation point.

45Aside from the verbs of the senses and become and remain, there are three other common linking verbs.

46They are prove, seem, and appear.

47Like other linking verbs, these verbs link an adjective or noun phrase to the subject.

48All these verbs use the same basic pattern.

49Subject plus linking verb plus subject complement.

50Think back to this passage from The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.

51As he approached the end, his sentences became broken, became short and uncertain, and his body seemed tense, seemed strained to catch the slightest pressure or whisper of life in the spaces around him.

52Fitzgerald uses some phrases that do not fit into the linking verb pattern.

53But, if you look closely, you will see that he uses the subject plus linking verb plus subject complement pattern in the sentence.

54Consider these clauses.

55His sentences became broken.

56Fitzgerald then repeats the linking verb pattern, but does not say the subject.

57The repeated subject is understood.

58His sentences became short and uncertain.

59His body seemed tense.

60His body seemed strained.

61His sentence contains other structures that are more complicated than the basic linking verb pattern.

62But, you can still see that these basic patterns can serve as the starting point for very long, complicated sentences.

63Learning how to use linking verb patterns will help you improve your writing.

64You can think about creative ways to use them, or you can learn to recognize when you use them too often.

65To start practicing this pattern, try finding the linking verb in the sentences at the end of this story.

66Identify the subject of the sentence, the linking verb, and the subject complement.

67Be careful, because one or more sentences may be tricky.

68We will give you the answers next week in the comments section and on our Facebook page.

69The lake became a clear pool, pale and quiet.

70Winter Dreams by F.

71Scott Fitzgerald Her slight unsteadiness seemed part of an enchanted dream.

72The Jelly Bean by F.

73Scott Fitzgerald John T.

74Unger was on the eve of departure.

75The Diamond as Big as the Ritz By F.

76Scott Fitzgerald I'm Jonathan Evans I'm John Russell And I'm Jill Robbins I'm John Russell I'm John Russell I'm John Russell I'm John Russell I'm John Russell I'm John Russell