Linking Verbs versus Helping Verbs versus State-of-Being Verbs

[kagmypts]

We are new to R&S, and this is my daughter's first real exposure to grammar.  We started with level 4, and while it seems to be a good fit, my daughter is having trouble seeing the difference between a linking verb and a helping verb.  If she better understood adjectives and adverbs, I think it would be extremely easy for her to understand the difference.  I have been working on that with her, and while she seems to be grasping it a bit more each day, I would like her to fully understand it. Does anyone have any links to web sites that clearly state the difference in age appropriate language (4th grade)?  Are there any worksheets available to work on this?  Thank you!

 

ETA - I think that my daughter's true confusion arises when the verb form of "to be" is not used as either a linking or a helping verb.  She does not know what to do when "to be" is merely a state-of-being (namely when "to be" is followed by an adverb).

 

[Arcadia]

Worksheets

http://norwellschools.org/cms/lib02/MA01001453/Centricity/Domain/206/VERB%20III.pdf

http://www.mrshatzi.com/files/verbs-ws-2.pdf

[merylvdm]

Get her to be able to identify 'is' and all the forms of the verb 'to be' as a linking verb. Once she understands that is a linking verb, then you can just get her to learn then other linking verbs as there aren't a lot that get used frequently. 'Feels' and 'Seems' are two that do come up.

 

For helping verbs explain that for there to be a helping verb in a sentence there has to be at least one other verb that is tied to that verb. Helping verbs 'help' ie are never alone.Again, there arre not that many and she could just learn the list, but obviously you want her to understand.

 

What might confuse her will be sentences like: I will be a teacher next year which contains the linking verb 'will be' but 'will' is also  the helping verb.

 

Here is a game to practice helping verbs - http://www.quia.com/rr/121293.html

 

 

[kagmypts]

Worksheets

http://norwellschools.org/cms/lib02/MA01001453/Centricity/Domain/206/VERB%20III.pdf

http://www.mrshatzi.com/files/verbs-ws-2.pdf

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

Get her to be able to identify 'is' and all the forms of the verb 'to be' as a linking verb. Once she understands that is a linking verb, then you can just get her to learn then other linking verbs as there aren't a lot that get used frequently. 'Feels' and 'Seems' are two that do come up.

 

For helping verbs explain that for there to be a helping verb in a sentence there has to be at least one other verb that is tied to that verb. Helping verbs 'help' ie are never alone.Again, there arre not that many and she could just learn the list, but obviously you want her to understand.

 

What might confuse her will be sentences like: I will be a teacher next year which contains the linking verb 'will be' but 'will' is also  the helping verb.

 

Here is a game to practice helping verbs - http://www.quia.com/rr/121293.html

 

She can identity all the forms of "be".  If she has a worksheet of just linking verbs, she can identify all of them without a single problem.  Likewise, she can identify helping verbs (and the associated main verb) in an "isolated" format as well.  However, as we began basic diagramming, I noticed that she keeps getting tripped up by the follow type of sentences:

 

1) I am here.

    She wants to identify "here" as the main verb because I believe that she is not fully comprehending adverbs yet.  She does not classify "am" as a linking verb because here does not describe/reference I.  She is then categorizing "am" as a helping verb of "here" because she doesn't really understand the function of "here".  Is this making any sense?  LOL 

 

 

2) I am going there.

    How can I explain that in this context "am" is a helping verb but in the previous sentence it is a state-of-being verb?  I understand that going is an action verb and that the previous sentence does not have an associated action verb, but it is not obvious to my daughter.

 

3) I am leaving.

  How can I make it clear that leaving is an action verb but here is an adverb (difference between example 1 & 3) since adverbs have not yet been formally introduced?

 

 

Thank you again!

 

ETA - I found this information while I was looking for worksheets for my daughter.  Page 15 really captures the root of her confusion.

 

http://www4.smsd.org/bruceadams/docs/Doc-84043.pdf

[kagmypts]

English verbs are divided by function into two basic categories: linking verbs and action verbs. Linking verbs are also called being verbs because they express states of being. Action verbs, well, they describe an action. Linking verbs are like giant equal signs plopped into the middle of your sentence

 

And this is exactly where she is getting confused.  In my previous example (I am here), I does not equal here. 

[Matryoshka]

This is where I get really, really annoyed with how verbs are taught in English.  Since we don't have a lot of conjugations, and our tenses, moods and voices are largely made by using "helping" verbs instead of conjugating the main verb, it seems the grammar programs figure we don't need to know almost anything about how the verbs are actually working in a sentence, and how we vary them to show different shades of meaning.

 

The main verb in a sentence shows what the subject is doing (or being, in the case of the "linking" verb, another term I rather detest).

 

So, in your third sentence:

 

 

3) I am leaving.

  How can I make it clear that leaving is an action verb but here is an adverb (difference between example 1 & 3) since adverbs have not yet been formally introduced?

 

"Leaving" is not an adverb.  It is an action verb, the main verb.  Why?  Because it's what the subject is doing.  It's not describing the state of being of the subject!  He's not in some state of leaving, he's moving out the door!  In English, we very often use the present progressive tense, which is formed with the "helping" verb "to be" plus the present participle (that "ing" word).  We are an odd language that way.  Most other languages just use the present tense - which in English would be "I leave."  That sounds odd in English.  But if I were to translate this into another language, it would make no sense to translate it literally as "I am leaving", using "to be" and an adverb.  In Spanish, I'd say "me voy", in German I'd say "ich gehe." - "ich bin gehend" is nonsensical.  Leaving is the very thing the subject is doing.

 

The question you should always ask to find the verb is "what is the subject doing?"  If the subject isn't doing anything, that's the time to look for a state of being verb.

 

I am pretty - subject isn't doing anything, he is something.

I am a teacher - subject isn't doing anything, he is a teacher. 

 

These two examples are where that = sign metaphor comes in handy.

 

In your example with an adverb, you wouldn't get to the confusion in the first place if you first eliminate the possibility of a main action verb by determining that the subject really is doing something.  Also, honestly it's actually pretty rare that you're going to get "to be" + present participle and have it not be the progressive tense, although it can happen.

 

In "I am here" the option of the progressive tense is right off the table.  Also, 'here' answers an adverb question "where?"  A word than answers the question "where" is an adverb.  And that is where the person is.  He is not acting/doing.

 

You can see again how this doesn't apply to "I am leaving."  "Leaving" does not answer "where?" it tells what the person is doing - he is in the act of leaving.  It is a verb.

[Lucy the Valiant]

I wish that elementary English grammars would just go ahead and teach the 2 categories of action verbs (transitive and intransitive) alongside of linking verbs and complements. Many kids find it easier to identify the complement first and then use that classification to determine the type of verb.

 

I often play a "matching" game with my students to match the sentence pattern . . . the basic 5 (encompassing most of the dependent *and* independent clause structures in active voice) are these:

 

S InTrV.      (can be a really long sentence with lots of modifiers, but only 2 main parts to the "skeleton" or structure)

 

S  LV  PA        (subject equals the adjective-complement)

 

S LV  PN          (subject equals the noun-complement)

 

S TrV       DO       (subject does NOT equal the noun-complement; DO receives the S)

 

S TrV        IO     DO.     (subject does NOT equal the noun-complement; DO still receives the S, and the IO receives the DO)

[Matryoshka]

Katie brings up another interesting point, the intransitive verb, which may be part of what's confusing you about "am leaving".  "To leave" is an intransitive action verb, which is to say it does not transfer the action to another object, but instead the action is retained by the subject.  This is still different from a state of being verb, as the subject is acting, not being.

 

And upon further reflection, I can't come up with a single instance where "to be" + present participle is not the progressive tense, and is rather some form of adverb.  With the passive voice construction ("to be" + past participle) there are instances where it is not the passive voice but the past participle is a predicate adjective, but that is different.  In that case you have to determine whether the participle is describing the subject, or whether the subject is actually an object of a stated or unstated agent  ' "The book was read (by me)" is and example of the passive voice - the "by me" is the one doing the action - the reading.  Can anyone can come up with a sentence with the present participle after "to be" actually used as an adverb rather than it being the progressive tense?  If it's possible at all, it's vanishingly rare.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

This might help with identifying all the state of being/helping verbs. It's a memory trick I learned in a private school.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Ooooh, Matryoshka, I'm going to be up late tonight pondering. :)

 

The beauty of teaching the 3 main sentence patterns at once is that kids don't confuse the [s InTrV modifying*phrases*stacked*on*top*of*each*other] with the [s LV PN / PA] structure. The "being verbs" can function alone (as intransitive) or with participles (as helping verbs); their function determines their classification.

 

 

[kagmypts]

Katie brings up another interesting point, the intransitive verb, which may be part of what's confusing you about "am leaving".  "To leave" is an intransitive action verb, which is to say it does not transfer the action to another object, but instead the action is retained by the subject.  This is still different from a state of being verb, as the subject is acting, not being.

 

And upon further reflection, I can't come up with a single instance where "to be" + present participle is not the progressive tense, and is rather some form of adverb.  With the passive voice construction ("to be" + past participle) there are instances where it is not the passive voice but the past participle is a predicate adjective, but that is different.  In that case you have to determine whether the participle is describing the subject, or whether the subject is actually an object of a stated or unstated agent  ' "The book was read (by me)" is and example of the passive voice - the "by me" is the one doing the action - the reading.  Can anyone can come up with a sentence with the present participle after "to be" actually used as an adverb rather than it being the progressive tense?  If it's possible at all, it's vanishingly rare.

 

 

I want to clarify that it is not me who is confused by all of this; my daughter is the one who is having trouble grasping the "subtle" differences in the examples I mentioned.  As I said, she has not yet been exposed to adverbs.  R&S English 4 introduces simple subject and simple predicate and then moves right into diagramming.  I think that not understanding adverbs is adding to the confusion, and I also think that transitive and intransitive verbs are creating additional problems.  I am not sure if I should step back and introduce the various parts of speech to her or keep moving ahead (adverbs are covered later in R&S 4).

 

Up until this point, my daughter has grouped verbs into two categories - action and linking/state of being.  I think that I need to explain to her that state of being and linking verbs are not necessarily synonymous.  On Monday, this is the approach that I am going to take.

 

1) Is there an action verb in the sentence?

• If yes, identify any helping verb(s).  Once the action verb and any helping verbs have been identified, you have found the simple predicate.
• If no, proceed to #2.

2) Identify all forms of "to be" and categorize as either a linking or a state of being verb.

• Does anything after the "to be" verb describe or reference the subject?  If so, the verb is a linking verb.
• If the predicate does not link back to the subject, it is an (intransitive) state of being verb.  She can give herself a gut check by substituting "exist" for the state of being verb.  (In my example, I exist here means basically the same thing as I am here.)

Does anybody see anything flawed with that process?  As I said, she has not been formally introduced to adverbs so confusion was arising from the word "here".  I think that if I remind her that helping verbs are paired with action verbs that will help (of course, the phrase "will be" can be both a linking verb and a helping verb... so my above statement is not 100% accurate).

[kagmypts]

 

 

So, in your third sentence:

 

 

 

"Leaving" is not an adverb.  It is an action verb, the main verb. 

I know that leaving is not an adverb as I specially stated that "leaving is an action verb" while also stating that "here is an adverb."  That is obvious to me, but since my daughter is very new to the various parts of speech, it is hard for me to explain this concept in a way that is familiar to her.  Should I explain adverbs and transitive/intransitive verbs now?  I just don't know how to explain these differences given her limited knowledge base.  I can't be the only person who has a child confused by the construction of a sentence prior to her mastering the basic parts of speech.  I am really struggling with the best way to proceed.  On the one hand, I feel that I need to back up and teach her adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases, and on the other hand, I feel that those topics will be addressed in due course. 

 

I have read through the entire R&S 4 book, and it seems to me that a child should have mastered the basic construction of a sentence by the end of the book.  However, only a little bit is introduced at one time, and the concepts slowly build on one another. Since my daughter is at the beginning of the book, should I expect her to know how every word in a sentence functions?  If not, how do I handle it when confusion arises from her lack of knowledge?

 

Also, thank you so much for your help and opinion.  I am really valuing the dialogue in this thread!

[Paige]

2) Identify all forms of "to be" and categorize as either a linking or a state of being verb.

• Does anything after the "to be" verb describe or reference the subject?  If so, the verb is a linking verb.
• If the predicate does not link back to the predicate, it is an (intransitive) state of being verb.  She can give herself a gut check by substituting "exist" for the state of being verb.  (In my example, I exist here means basically the same thing as I am here.)

Does anybody see anything flawed with that process?  As I said, she has not been formally introduced to adverbs so confusion was arising from the word "here".  I think that if I remind her that helping verbs are paired with action verbs that will help (of course, the phrase "will be" can be both a linking verb and a helping verb... so my above statement is not 100% accurate).

 

I would not have her identify all forms of to be to identify non-action verbs. There are some linking verbs that are not forms of to be and it may confuse her. I would first identify action or not as you described. If it isn't action, then I would replace the verb with an = sign in her mind. Is the sentence saying that the subject is the same thing as the predicate? If not, then it is a state of being verb.

[kagmypts]

I would not have her identify all forms of to be to identify non-action verbs. There are some linking verbs that are not forms of to be and it may confuse her. I would first identify action or not as you described. If it isn't action, then I would replace the verb with an = sign in her mind. Is the sentence saying that the subject is the same thing as the predicate? If not, then it is a state of being verb.

 

I understand your point.  I am assuming you are referring to verbs such as appear, feel, look, seem, sound, taste, remain, and smell.  My train of thought is that based on my daughter's current knowledge base she will immediately classify those as actions verbs.  Hmmm.....

 

I am really struggling with how to introduce her to the various parts of speech in the proper order.  Do I introduce her to these "exceptions" now or when she has a stronger foundation?  I don't think that it would confuse her if down the road I expanded linking verbs to include words that look like actions verbs.  However, I fear that I may confuse her now if I explain that some words that look like action verbs may in fact be linking verbs.

[Matryoshka]

I know that leaving is not an adverb as I specially stated that "leaving is an action verb" while also stating that "here is an adverb." 

 

So sorry, I am guilty of sloppy reading!  I read it as "how do I explain that leaving is an action verb, but here (it) is (used as) an adverb."    I know those words weren't in your sentence, but they could have been implied, and apparently my brain decided to read them into it. :)

[Matryoshka]

I am really struggling with how to introduce her to the various parts of speech in the proper order.  Do I introduce her to these "exceptions" now or when she has a stronger foundation?  I don't think that it would confuse her if down the road I expanded linking verbs to include words that look like actions verbs.  However, I fear that I may confuse her now if I explain that some words that look like action verbs may in fact be linking verbs.

 

I've never used R&S, but all this talk of bitty parts to whole makes me really appreciate the more whole to parts method of MCT, where all the major parts of speech (and phrases and clauses) are gone over up front, then you start with the complete sentence analysis.

[kagmypts]

I've never used R&S, but all this talk of bitty parts to whole makes me really appreciate the more whole to parts method of MCT, where all the major parts of speech (and phrases and clauses) are gone over up front, then you start with the complete sentence analysis.

 

YES!  The funny thing is that I like R&S for the most part, and I do feel that at the end of the year my daughter will have a solid foundation.  I just hope that I don't make myself crazy on the journey!  Just out of curiosity, does MCT use sentences as each major part of speech is introduced?

 

I think that I need to backtrack and give her a more comprehensive overview.  It will be much easier to explain the exceptions, and I do think that all of this confusion could have been avoided if R&S used better examples.  If R&S refrained from using sentences with adverbs until after adverbs were introduced, I am confident that my daughter could easily explain to me how my three examples are different.  I also have no doubt that in a few months I could sit my daughter down and clearly explain how each word mentioned above functions.  However, I am not sure how to bridge the gap in the meantime.

 

ETA - I just wanted to say that R&S does cover all of the major parts of speech in an incremental approach.  They first introduced nouns, and verbs quickly followed.  However, in some of the verb exercises, my daughter is confusing adverbs ("here") with helping/linking verbs.  She wants to classify here as the main being verb (with the helping verb "am").  Until we get to adverbs, it's hard for me to explain to her that "here" tells where I "am" and is not actually an extension of the being verb "am". 

[kagmypts]

So sorry, I am guilty of sloppy reading!  I read it as "how do I explain that leaving is an action verb, but here (it) is (used as) an adverb."    I know those words weren't in your sentence, but they could have been implied, and apparently my brain decided to read them into it. :)

 

I know that my explanation and wording weren't perfect, and that is why I wanted to clarify what I wrote.  :001_smile:   Thank you for all of your help!

[Soror]

I understand your point.  I am assuming you are referring to verbs such as appear, feel, look, seem, sound, taste, remain, and smell.  My train of thought is that based on my daughter's current knowledge base she will immediately classify those as actions verbs.  Hmmm.....

 

I am really struggling with how to introduce her to the various parts of speech in the proper order.  Do I introduce her to these "exceptions" now or when she has a stronger foundation?  I don't think that it would confuse her if down the road I expanded linking verbs to include words that look like actions verbs.  However, I fear that I may confuse her now if I explain that some words that look like action verbs may in fact be linking verbs.

Fwiw ds is doing Grammar Island right now and he was just introduced to linking verbs and the fact that they mean = is introduced right off the bat. The first examples were of less tricky verbs but then very soon there were examples w/ words like smell. Ds was able to identify them as linking verbs right off the bat. I actually expected him to be confused as I was when I first started my own grammar re-education but MCT's explanations have worked well for him.

[Lucy the Valiant]

You can do R&S out of order - I *always* teach kids prepositional phrases immediately after nouns (so that they won't be confused when they see "random nouns" coming after the verb that are NOT predicate nouns, direct objects, or indirect objects).

 

If she's stuck with adverbs, just jump ahead, give her a good running start w/adverbs, and then go back to where you were with verbs.

 

Function determines form for so many verbs (and nouns, too!) - kids don't often realize that words are like people and can wear many different "hats" (i.e., be many different parts of speech).

[Heathermomster]

Here's a thought..Ensure she knows how to select the subject and verb of a sentence. Ensure she understands the main verb. Using a colorful index card, write down the helping verbs. Allow her to use the helping verb card whenever she needs it. You may even want to give her a linking verb card.  Whatever the case, let her use the cards until she masters the concept.  

 

Just so you know, Winston Grammar does this.