a verb such as ‘be’, ‘seem’, and ‘appear’ that connects the subject of a clause with a complement. For example in the sentence ‘He was a cheerful man and seemed happy in his old age’, ‘was’ and ‘seemed’ are linking verbs, and ‘a cheerful man’ and ‘happy’ are its complements.
Synonyms and related words
Verb forms and tenses
aspect
auxiliary verb
conjugation
linking verb
noun countable linguistics
US
Word Forms
singular
linking verb
plural
linking verbs
DEFINITIONS1
1
a verb such as ‘be’, ‘seem’, and ‘appear’ that connects the subject of a clause with a complement. For example in the sentence ‘He was a cheerful man and seemed happy in his old age’, ‘was’ and ‘seemed’ are linking verbs, and ‘a cheerful man’ and ‘happy’ are its complements.