What is a linking verb?

A linking verb joins a subject to a complement that describes or identifies it, instead of to an object that receives an action. In She is a teacher and She seems tired, teacher and tired both tell you about she. The most common are be, become, seem, appear, get, remain, stay, and the sense verbs look, sound, feel, taste, and smell.

Is it I feel bad or I feel badly?

I feel bad. Feel is a linking verb here, so it takes an adjective that describes you, not an adverb that describes the feeling. I feel badly would mean that your ability to feel is poor. The same logic gives you I feel good, I feel terrible, and I feel sick.

How can I tell whether a verb is linking or an action verb?

Replace the verb with is or was. If the sentence still makes sense, the verb is linking: The cake looks great becomes The cake is great, so looks is linking and great is an adjective. If the replacement is nonsense (She looked at the cake becomes She is at the cake), the verb is an action verb.

Is be always a linking verb?

As a main verb, yes: it links a subject to a noun, adjective, or place phrase (He is a pilot, he is tall, he is in Rome). As an auxiliary in continuous and passive forms (he is running, it was built) it is a helping verb, not a linking one. There is also the existential use in there is and there are, where be simply states that something exists.

Can a linking verb be followed by a noun?

Yes, when the noun identifies the subject: She became a lawyer. The winner was Ana. It's me. The noun is called a subject complement, and it refers to the same person or thing as the subject, which is why it is not an object. Sense verbs need like before a noun: It smells like smoke. It feels like silk.

English grammar · Intermediate

Linking Verbs: Be, Become, Seem, and the Sense Verbs Explained

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

Linking verbs (also called copular verbs) connect a subject to a word or phrase that describes or identifies it, called the complement: She is a nurse. The milk smells sour. They do not take an object, because nothing is being done to anything, and that is why an adjective follows them rather than an adverb: you feel bad, not badly.

The soup tastes salty.

tastes links the soup to a description of it, so an adjective follows

What it is

Most verbs describe an action that passes from the subject to something else: She kicked the ball. A linking verb does no such thing. It joins the subject to a complement, a word that tells you what the subject is or is like: She is a doctor. She seems tired. The complement refers back to the subject, so it is a noun or an adjective, never an adverb. Be is the linking verb you meet most, but become, seem, appear, remain, stay, get, turn, grow, and the five sense verbs (look, sound, feel, taste, smell) all work the same way.

The sky turned grey. (Grey describes the sky; turned links them.) The coffee smells wonderful. (Wonderful describes the coffee, so it is an adjective, not wonderfully.)

How to spot it

Try replacing the verb with is or became. If the sentence still makes sense (The soup tastes salty, the soup is salty), the verb is linking and the word after it describes the subject. If the replacement is nonsense (She tasted the soup, she is the soup), the verb is an action verb with an object.

He became a lawyer. (a lawyer identifies he: became means is now)
You look exhausted. (look means seem, and exhausted describes you)
The room stayed quiet. (stayed means continued to be)
She looked at the map. (not linking: an action with at plus an object)

Feel is the verb learners most often get wrong. I feel bad describes your state with an adjective. I feel badly would mean your sense of touch is poor, which is almost never what anyone means.

Linking Verbs Quick Reference

The main linking verbs, grouped by meaning

Group	Verbs	Example
Being	be	The children are hungry.
Becoming	become, get, turn, grow, go, fall	It's getting dark. The leaves turned yellow.
Seeming	seem, appear, look	He seems friendly. She appeared calm.
Remaining	remain, stay, keep	Please stay calm. The shop remained open.
Sense verbs	look, sound, feel, taste, smell	That sounds fair. The milk smells off.
Proving	prove, turn out	The rumour proved false. The plan turned out fine.

Common Linking Verbs Examples in English

Linking verbs are grouped here by what the link says: what the subject is, what it is becoming, how it seems, or how it strikes the senses.

Identifying and Describing with Be

My neighbour is a firefighter.: noun complement: identifies the subject
The instructions were unclear.: adjective complement: describes the subject
The keys are in the drawer.: a place phrase completes be
It's me.: the pronoun after be is a complement, not an object

Be is the pure linking verb: it carries tense and agreement and nothing else. Whatever follows it describes or identifies the subject.

Becoming and Changing

She became a grandmother last year.: become + noun
The weather is getting colder.: get + adjective: the everyday word for become
His hair has turned grey.: turn: a change of colour or state
The children grew restless.: grow: a gradual change
The milk has gone off.: go: a change for the worse

Get is neutral and conversational, turn suits colours and sudden changes, grow suits slow ones, and go is mostly for bad outcomes: go wrong, go bad, go bankrupt.

Seeming and Appearing

The price seems reasonable.: seem + adjective
He appeared nervous before the interview.: appear means seem, slightly more formal
You look happy today.: look means seem, judged by appearance
Everything appeared normal from the outside.: appear + adjective

Seem and appear report an impression rather than a fact. Before a noun, most speakers add like or to be: He seems like a nice man. He seems to be a nice man.

Sense Verbs

This cheese smells strong.: smell + adjective
Your idea sounds great.: sound: how it strikes the ear or the mind
The fabric feels soft.: feel: the object's texture, not the speaker's action
The sauce tastes too sweet.: taste + adjective
He looks like his father.: look like + noun for resemblance

The subject of a sense verb is the thing perceived, not the person perceiving: The fabric feels soft means the fabric has that quality when touched.

How Linking Verbs Work

Four points of grammar follow from one fact: the word after a linking verb describes the subject.

The Complement Describes the Subject, So It Is an Adjective

Adverbs describe verbs: how an action is done. After a linking verb nothing is being done, so the describing word points back at the subject, and words that describe nouns are adjectives. That is the whole reason for feel bad, look good, and sound strange.

The engine runs smoothly, but the ride feels rough.

runs is an action (adverb smoothly); feels is linking (adjective rough)

Linking verb + adjective, action verb + adverb.

Linking Verbs Take a Complement, Not an Object

An object is a different person or thing from the subject: she kicked the ball. A complement is the subject seen from another angle: Maria is the manager, where Maria and the manager are the same person. Because there is no object, linking verbs have no passive: a doctor was become by her is impossible.

Maria is the manager.

the subject and the complement are the same person, so there is no object

Subject = complement.

The Is Test Tells You Which Verb You Have

Swap the verb for is or was. If the sentence survives, the verb is linking. The test works because every linking verb is a variation on be with a shade of meaning added: seem adds doubt, become adds change, look adds appearance.

The dog smelled the bone. The bone smelled awful.

the bone was awful works; the dog was the bone does not

If is fits, it links.

Many Linking Verbs Also Have an Action Meaning

Look, taste, smell, feel, grow, appear, turn, and prove each have a second life as an action verb with an object or an adverb. The grammar follows the meaning: choose the adjective for the linking sense and the adverb or object for the action sense.

He appeared calm. He appeared at the door.

appeared meaning seemed, then appeared meaning arrived

Same verb, two jobs.

Good and Well After Linking Verbs

Good is an adjective, so it is the normal complement: I feel good, that looks good, it sounds good. Well is usually an adverb, but it is also an adjective meaning healthy, which is why I feel well and you look well are correct when the topic is health.

You look well. You look good in that jacket.

well means healthy; good means attractive

Well = health, good = everything else.

Common Mistakes with Linking Verbs

Incorrect: I feel badly about what happened.

Correct: I feel bad about what happened.

Feel here is a linking verb describing your state, so it takes an adjective. Badly is an adverb and would describe the act of feeling, as if your sense of touch were faulty. Many native speakers make this error too, which does not make it standard.

Incorrect: The music sounds beautifully.

Correct: The music sounds beautiful.

Sound is a sense verb linking the music to a description of it. Beautiful describes the music; beautifully would describe how the music performs the action of sounding, which makes no sense.

Incorrect: He looks like tired.

Correct: He looks tired.

Like introduces a noun (He looks like his brother). An adjective follows look directly, with nothing in between.

Incorrect: My hair turned to grey.

Correct: My hair turned grey.

Turn as a linking verb takes the adjective directly. Turn to and turn into introduce nouns: the party turned into a disaster.

Linking Verbs of Change and Their Fixed Partners

Get, turn, grow, go, fall, and come all mean become, but each pairs with its own set of adjectives.

Go and turn for colour and decline

Go pairs with adjectives of decline and with colour changes in the face; turn pairs with colours and sudden changes of state.

The bread has gone stale.: go + stale, off, bad, mouldy
He went pale when he heard.: go with a change in the face
The leaves turn orange in October.: turn + colour

Go also appears in fixed expressions of losing something: go blind, go deaf, go bankrupt, go quiet, go missing.

Get and grow for gradual change

Get is the everyday become and works with almost any adjective; grow is slower and more literary.

It's getting late.: get + late, dark, cold, tired, better
They got married in June.: get with a past participle
We're growing impatient.: grow + impatient, old, tired, accustomed

Become is the formal option for all of these and is the only one that comfortably takes a noun: She became a judge.

Fall, come, and run in set phrases

A few other verbs link only inside fixed phrases, and the pairings have to be learned one by one.

The room fell silent.: fall + silent, asleep, ill
Her prediction came true.: come + true, loose, undone
The river ran dry.: run + dry, low, wild

These combinations are fixed: you fall asleep but get tired, and something comes loose but goes wrong. Learn them as pairs.

Quick Check: Linking Verbs

Choose the correct word, deciding first whether the verb is linking or an action verb.

1. The children seemed ___ (happy / happily) with the result.

Answer: happy

seem is linking: adjective

2. She ___ (look) the letter for a moment and then ___ (look) shocked.

Answer: looked at, looked

the first look is an action and needs at; the second means seemed

3. This coffee tastes ___ (bitter / bitterly).

Answer: bitter

taste is a sense verb: the adjective describes the coffee

4. He drove ___ (careful / carefully) because the road had turned ___ (icy / icily).

Answer: carefully, icy

drove is an action (adverb); turned means became (adjective)

5. After the news, the whole office fell ___ (silent / silently).

Answer: silent

fall here means become: fell silent is a fixed linking phrase

6. I don't feel ___ (good / well) today; I think I'm getting a cold.

Answer: well

well as an adjective means healthy; feel good would be about mood

Linking Verbs FAQs

What is a linking verb?: A linking verb joins a subject to a complement that describes or identifies it, instead of to an object that receives an action. In She is a teacher and She seems tired, teacher and tired both tell you about she. The most common are be, become, seem, appear, get, remain, stay, and the sense verbs look, sound, feel, taste, and smell.
Is it I feel bad or I feel badly?: I feel bad. Feel is a linking verb here, so it takes an adjective that describes you, not an adverb that describes the feeling. I feel badly would mean that your ability to feel is poor. The same logic gives you I feel good, I feel terrible, and I feel sick.
How can I tell whether a verb is linking or an action verb?: Replace the verb with is or was. If the sentence still makes sense, the verb is linking: The cake looks great becomes The cake is great, so looks is linking and great is an adjective. If the replacement is nonsense (She looked at the cake becomes She is at the cake), the verb is an action verb.
Is be always a linking verb?: As a main verb, yes: it links a subject to a noun, adjective, or place phrase (He is a pilot, he is tall, he is in Rome). As an auxiliary in continuous and passive forms (he is running, it was built) it is a helping verb, not a linking one. There is also the existential use in there is and there are, where be simply states that something exists.
Can a linking verb be followed by a noun?: Yes, when the noun identifies the subject: She became a lawyer. The winner was Ana. It's me. The noun is called a subject complement, and it refers to the same person or thing as the subject, which is why it is not an object. Sense verbs need like before a noun: It smells like smoke. It feels like silk.