linking verbs

[ninetales]

I wish I could be a rock star.

My cousin is a trained performed.

My friends and I are going to practice our jumping.

I became fat after eating too many fish.

I was tangled in seaweed for two hours.

I am going to be a professional dancer.

Are the underlined verbs used as linking verbs in these sentences?

Thanks
Kellie

[mykwyner]

Yes, except am going and are going. These are auxillary verbs that show that the going is in the present tense.

[BobK]

Yes, except am going and are going. These are auxillary verbs that show that the going is in the present tense.

I'm confused. Why - by a similar argument - isn't was an auxiliary that shows that the tangled was in the past?

b

[mykwyner]

I thought about that.

[MikeNewYork]

I'm confused. Why - by a similar argument - isn't was an auxiliary that shows that the tangled was in the past?

b

There are often two ways to read [form of to be + past participle].
1. the combination is a passive voice verb (to be = auxiliary verb)
2. the sequence is linking verb-predicate adjective (to be = linking verb)

In this case, I would call it #2.

[Mister Micawber]

.

I was tangled in seaweed for two hours.

Also, interpretation as passive requires some sort of agent-- at least an implied one. Tangled by...what? There is no apparent agent; ergo, it is a predicate adjective.
.

[mykwyner]

Tangled, in this context is a participle. It functions as an adjective, not as a verb. When I teach my students how to identify linking verbs, we use this test: subject = describing word or phrase. The word that functions as the equal sign is a linking verb.

[BobK]

Thanks both.

b

[MikeNewYork]

Thanks both.

b

You're welcome.

Just to exapnd a little.

I was tired. (The default reading of this decontextualized sentence will likely lead one to concluding that "tired" is a participle used as a predicate adjective.)

I was tired by my journey. (Now, one will likely conclude that the sentence is in passive voice, with "tired".)

I was tired by the end of my journey. (This one is less clear, but I would read "tired" again as an adjective, unless there was some context that suggested the "end" of the journey was particularly difficult.)