Position of Adjectives with Linking Verbs | English Grammar Guide for French Students

• 1 Do not show action; they connect subjects to information
• 2 Can be replaced with "equals" (=) in the sentence
• 3 Are followed by predicate adjectives or predicate nominatives
• 4 Describe a state of being rather than an action

1 am, is, are, was, were, being, been
2 Examples: "She is happy", "They were excited"

1 look, feel, smell, taste, sound
2 Examples: "She looks tired", "The cake tastes sweet"

1 become, grow, turn, remain, stay, seem, appear
2 Examples: "He became angry", "She stays calm"

1 Adjectives that follow linking verbs are called predicate adjectives
2 They come after the linking verb, not before the noun
3 They describe the subject of the sentence
4 Pattern: Subject + Linking Verb + Predicate Adjective

• 1 "The soup tastes delicious"
• 2 "She looks tired"
• 3 "The flowers smell sweet"
• 4 "He is happy"

1 Come before the noun they modify
2 Used with action verbs or as noun modifiers
3 Examples: "beautiful flowers", "happy children"
4 Pattern: [Adjective] + [Noun]

1 Come after linking verbs
2 Describe the subject of the sentence
3 Examples: "Flowers are beautiful", "Children look happy"
4 Pattern: [Subject] + [Linking Verb] + [Adjective]

Type	Position	Verb Type	Example
Attributive	Before noun	Action/Transitive	The red car
Predicate	After linking verb	Linking	The car is red

1 Multiple predicate adjectives can follow a linking verb
2 They are usually connected with "and" or "or"
3 Example: "She is smart and beautiful"
4 Each adjective describes the subject

1 Sometimes longer phrases act as predicate adjectives
2 Example: "He is ready to help"
3 The entire phrase describes the subject
4 These still follow the linking verb

• 1 Confusing linking verbs with action verbs: "She looks good" (linking) vs "She looks carefully" (action)
• 2 Placing predicate adjectives before the noun instead of after the linking verb
• 3 Thinking that all verbs can take predicate adjectives
• 4 Not recognizing when a verb is functioning as a linking verb vs an action verb

1 ✓ Correct: "She is happy"
2 ✗ Incorrect: "She happy is"
3 ✓ Correct: "The soup tastes good"
4 ✗ Incorrect: "The good soup tastes"

1. The flowers _______ beautiful. (linking verb: look)

2. She _______ tired after the long journey. (linking verb: feel)

3. The cake _______ delicious. (linking verb: taste)

4. The weather _______ cold today. (linking verb: is)

5. He _______ confident about his presentation. (linking verb: seems)

6. The soup _______ salty. (linking verb: tastes)

1. The flowers look beautiful.

2. She feels tired after the long journey.

3. The cake tastes delicious.

4. The weather is cold today.

5. He seems confident about his presentation.

6. The soup tastes salty.

1 English: Uses linking verbs to connect subjects to adjectives (She is happy)
2 French: Uses "être" or "sembler" but the concept is similar (Elle est heureuse)
3 English: Position of adjectives is crucial (after linking verbs)
4 French: Adjectives also come after linking verbs in similar constructions

• 1 Recognize linking verbs vs. action verbs
• 2 Understand that predicate adjectives follow linking verbs
• 3 Note that some French verbs that seem like linking verbs may be action verbs in English
• 4 Practice identifying linking verbs in English sentences

1 Some verbs can function as both linking and action verbs depending on context
2 Example: "She looks tired" (linking) vs "She looks carefully" (action)
3 Test: Can you replace with "equals"? "She equals tired" (no) vs "She equals beautiful" (yes)
4 When in doubt, try the substitution test

1 With prepositional phrases: "She is afraid of spiders"
2 With infinitive phrases: "He is ready to leave"
3 With that clauses: "She seems to be happy"
4 All these structures function as predicate adjectives

1 Sense verbs: look, feel, smell, taste, sound
2 State verbs: be, seem, appear, become, stay, remain
3 Change verbs: become, grow, turn
4 Think of linking verbs as connecting the subject to its state or condition

• 1 Use the "substitution test": Replace the verb with "equals" to check if it's linking
• 2 Practice with daily observations: "I feel tired", "The food smells good"
• 3 Read English texts to see natural usage patterns
• 4 Create your own sentences using linking verbs with predicate adjectives

• Predicate adjectives come after linking verbs
• Linking verbs connect subjects to information about the subject
• Common linking verbs: be, seem, appear, become, feel, look, smell, taste, sound
• Attributive adjectives come before nouns, predicate adjectives come after linking verbs
• Test: Replace the verb with "equals" to determine if it's a linking verb

• Attributive: [Adjective] + [Noun]
• Predicate: [Subject] + [Linking Verb] + [Adjective]
• Examples: "The happy child" vs "The child is happy"

• Start by identifying linking verbs in sentences
• Look for adjectives that come after these verbs
• Notice the difference from adjectives that come before nouns