Pengertian dan Contoh Linking Verbs

Pengertian Linking Verbs

Linking verb adalah kata kerja yang menghubungkan subject dengan informasi atau deskripsi tentang subject tersebut (subject complement). Adapun subject complement dapat berupa noun, adjective, atau adverb.
Berbeda dengan main verb yang dapat menunjukkan aksi/tindakan, kata ini hanya sebagai penghubung. Dengan demikian kata kerja ini selalu intransitive karena tidak ada direct object yang menerima aksi.
Linking verbs terdiri dari: verb of sensation (feel, look, smell, sound, taste) dan verb of being (act, appear, be, become, continue, grow, prove, remain, seem, turn).

Linking verbs be antara lain: is, am, are, was, were, dan be. Dengan is, am, dan are digunakan pada present tense, was dan were pada past tense, be pada present subjunctive & imperative, dan were pada past subjunctive.
Adapun verb “be” digunakan pula sebagai auxilliary, jangan sampai keliru dengan linking verb. Auxiliary diikuti verb (participle).

Kebanyakan verb of sensation maupun verb of being (kecuali be) dapat pula sebagai action verb dan transitive seperti: appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste, & turn, namun become dan seem benar-benar hanya dapat berfungsi sebagai linking verb.
Be tidak bisa menjadi action karena “ising, areing, being” bukan sesuatu yang dapat dikerjakan.
Kebanyakan kata kerja pada suatu kalimat, tidak termasuk appear, dapat dideteksi sebagai action atau bukan dengan cara mensubstitusikan be pada kata kerja tersebut. Jika tampak logis, maka kata kerja tersebut berfungsi sebagai linking verb.

The noodle tasted delicious.
Substitusi “was”: The noodle was delicious. (kalimat logis –> taste merupakan linking verb)

July tasted the Kung Pao chicken.
Substitusi “was”: July was the Kung Pao chicken. (kalimat tidak logis –> taste merupakan action & transitive)

Contoh kalimat linking verbs pada verb of sensation maupun being adalah sebagai berikut.

Linking Verbs		Contoh Kalimat
Verbs of Sensation	feel, look, smell, sound, taste	The old man felt lonely.
		The coat look nice.
		Her socks smell bad.
		The host’s voice sounded terrible because of cold.
		After working for five hours, a plate of fried rice will taste yummy.
Verb of Being	be: is, am, are, was, were, be	Mr. Mamat is a headmaster.
		I am from Bandar Lampung.
		The children were naughty.
		I wish you be mature and responsible.
	act, appear, become, continue, grow, prove, remain, seem, sit, stand, turn	The baby sitter was fired because she acted careless.
		The newlywed couple appears happy.
		He become unfamous because of his behavior.
		The woman will grow old with her lovely husband.
		The story proved unreal.
		Your holiday plan seems interesting.

Semoga tulisan [engertian dan contoh linking verb ini bermanfaat dan mohon maaf jika ada kekurangan. Feel free to comment! :)

Verbs and Verbals. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm. Accessed on January 8, 2013.
The Verb “To Be”. http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/to_be.htm. Accessed on January 8, 2013.
Linking Verbs. http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/link.html. Accessed on October 4, 2012.
Linking Verbs. http://www.sinclair.edu/centers/tlc/pub/handouts_worksheets/grammar_punctuation_writing/verbs_linking.pdf. Accessed on October 4, 2012.