AKA: linking verbs, being verbs, relational processes

Examples

The area of a rectangle is base times height.

Writing has become more important in the curriculum.

The crust refers to the outer layer of the earth.

🧾Definition

Relating verbs are used in clauses that tell us what something is, means, or comprises. There are sometimes called linking verbs because the verb links the two participants (the subject and its complement), or being verbs because they are fundamentally about states not actions. The most common relating verb is the verb be.

🔬Discovery

| The difference between a relating verb and other types of verbs can be seen in these sentences:

  1. Ahlam is a great teacher.
  2. Ahlam knows a great teacher.
  3. Ahlam met a great teacher. | How many participants are in each sentence? That is, how many different people? | | --- | --- |

In Sentence 1, there is only one person (Ahlam, the Token), she is described as a great teacher because is (the verb be) is a relating verb, so a great teacher is the Value, or complement. In Sentences 2 and 3, there are two different people, Ahlam and a great teacher. Know is a thinking verb (a great teacher is the Phenomenon, or the thing that is known). Meet is an action verb, and the great teacher here is the Goal, or direct object (the person whom Ahlam met).

✅Form

Relational verbs typically link a Token to its Value. In traditional grammar, these can be called subject and subject complement, but Token and Value better explain the relationship between the terms. The subject is usually but not always the Token as many of these verbs are reversible. As you read the examples below, think about which word or phrase is the Token, the thing being defined or explained (the more specific participant), and which is the Value, characteristic, or attribute that the verb links to it (the more general word, phrase, or category).

Miss Daisy is crazy.
My school is called Ella Mentry.
The author has a vivid imagination.
The box set includes 21 books.
Dan Gutman has become a very famous author.

In all of the examples above, the subject is the Token and the complement (the word or phrase after the verb) is the Value. This is the most common clause pattern with relating verbs.

However, the reverse is sometimes possible:

Value Relating Verb Token
Miss Daisy is my teacher.
Three layers comprise the earth’s structure.
Red indicates an acidic solution.

The Value in a relating clause can take several different parts of speech: