Definition:
A verb, such as a form of be or seem, that joins the subject of a sentence to a complement. See also: copula.
Examples and Observations:
- "It is always the best policy to speak the truth--unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar."
(Jerome K. Jerome) - "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"
(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four, 1890) - "If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself. Tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches."
(Rainer Maria Rilke) - "While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior."
(Henry C. Link) - "I became a feminist as an alternative to becoming a masochist."
(Sally Kempton) - "These copular verbs (also linking verbs) can be divided semantically into two types: (1) Those like be that refer to a current state: appear, feel, remain, seem, sound. (2) Those that indicate a result of some kind: become, get (wet); go (bad); grow (old); turn (nasty). Be is the copula that most often takes adverbial complements which characterize or identify the subject: I felt cold; I felt a fool."
(Sylvia Chalker, "Copula," in The Oxford Companion to the English Language, edited by Tom McArthur, Oxford University Press, 1992) - "The future will be better tomorrow."
(Dan Quayle)
Pronunciation: ling-king verb
Also Known As: copula, copular verb
