Italian Sentence Analysis
Linking Verbs and the Nominal Predicate: 8 Exercises
An action verb builds a verbal predicate; a linking verb plus a subject complement builds a nominal one. Full table, tricky verbs and 8 solved exercises.
Recommended for: Grade 6 · Grade 7 · Grade 8
The predicate is everything a sentence says about its subject. When the verb carries its own meaning and can stand alone, the predicate is verbal. When the verb is only a bridge between the subject and the word that describes it, the two pieces together form a nominal predicate.
| Verbal predicate | Nominal predicate | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | one verb, simple or compound | linking verb + subject complement |
| Where the meaning sits | in the verb | in the noun or adjective after the verb |
| Which verbs | action verbs | be and the other linking verbs |
| Example | The wind blows hard. | The wind is icy. |
| How to write it | blows = verbal predicate | is icy = nominal predicate (is = linking verb, icy = predicate adjective) |
Before analysing predicates it helps to be sure of the other half of the sentence: the guide on how to find the subject explains the question method that everything below takes for granted.
The verbal predicate: four shapes
A verbal predicate is not only the plain active verb of a simple sentence. Passives, progressives and verb phrases with helpers all count, because in each case the group of words behaves as a single verb.
| Shape | Example | Why it is verbal |
|---|---|---|
| Active, transitive | Anna reads a novel. | reads has its own meaning and takes a direct object |
| Active, intransitive | The children sleep. | the verb says everything by itself |
| Passive | The bridge was built in 1890. | was is an auxiliary, not a link: the subject receives the action |
| With a modal | You must leave now. | must is never analysed alone, it joins the verb it governs |
The third row is where most mistakes happen. Be shows up all over the passive and the progressive without ever being a linking verb: in she was running and the letter was sent, the whole verb group is the predicate.
The nominal predicate: linking verb plus complement
A nominal predicate has two parts that are never split:
- the linking verb, which says almost nothing on its own and exists to connect;
- the subject complement, which carries the meaning.
The complement comes in two flavours, and English grammar gives each one a name:
| Type | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Predicate nominative | a noun that renames the subject | My uncle is an architect. |
| Predicate adjective | an adjective that describes the subject | The room is silent. |
| Pronoun complement | a pronoun that renames the subject | The winner is she. |
| Participial adjective | a past participle used as a quality | The door is closed. |
The quickest check is direction: a subject complement always points back at the subject. If the word after the verb points at something else, or tells when, where or how, you are not looking at a nominal predicate.
The linking verbs worth memorising
Be is the obvious one, but a dozen more behave the same way. Most of them describe how something appears, seems or changes state.
| Group | Verbs | Example |
|---|---|---|
| State of being | be | The answer is wrong. |
| Seeming | seem, appear, look | The problem seems hard. |
| Senses | feel, taste, smell, sound | The bread smells fresh. |
| Becoming | become, get, grow, turn | The sky turned grey. |
| Staying | remain, stay, keep | The class stayed quiet. |
Every verb in the last four groups can also be an action verb, and that is exactly what makes them exam material. She looked tired is nominal; she looked at the clock is verbal. The soup tasted salty is nominal; the chef tasted the soup is verbal.
Two tests settle it in seconds:
- The swap test. Replace the verb with is or are. If the sentence keeps its meaning, the verb is linking.
- The object test. Look for a direct object. A linking verb can never take one, so if the sentence has an object, the predicate is verbal.
The most common mistakes
Treating every be as a linking verb. The keys are on the table has no subject complement: on the table tells where, so the predicate is verbal. Same with the passive, the letter was sent.
Using an adverb after a linking verb. He felt badly, the flowers smell sweetly and the music sounds beautifully are all wrong in standard English. Linking verbs take adjectives, because the word describes the subject, not the action.
Splitting the predicate. A nominal predicate is written whole: is icy = nominal predicate. Calling is the predicate and icy a separate element is the error that costs the most marks.
Forgetting existential there. In there are two trunks in the attic, the verb means exist: the predicate is verbal and two trunks is the subject, not a complement.
Analysing a modal on its own. Wanted to be replaced and must leave are single predicates. Even when be is hiding inside them, the pieces stay together.
The three-step method
- Find the verb. If it is a plain action verb, you are done: verbal predicate.
- If it is be or a possible linking verb, run the swap test. No meaning kept, or a direct object in sight, means verbal.
- Otherwise look at what follows. A noun that renames the subject, or an adjective that describes it, gives you a nominal predicate: write the linking verb and the complement together.
If you want to see the same logic applied to individual words rather than to sentence roles, the guide to the six types of English nouns shows where a predicate nominative comes from, and definite and indefinite articles explains why he is a doctor and he is the doctor are not the same sentence.
In the eight exercises below the difficulty climbs along exactly this ladder: from a plain action verb to a sentence with two predicates, and finally to the adjective-versus-adverb trap that decides between bad and badly.
Solved exercises
1. Analyse the predicate in: The wind blows hard through the branches. base
Show solution
- Find the verb: blows.
- Ask whether the verb carries meaning on its own. The wind blows already says something complete.
- Try the swap test: replace the verb with is. The wind is hard through the branches does not keep the meaning, so blows is an action verb.
- Hard and through the branches are adverbials, not part of the predicate's core.
Answer: blows = verbal predicate (action verb).
2. Analyse the predicate in: The snow is white. base
Show solution
- The verb is is, a form of be.
- Stop after the verb: The snow is means nothing on its own, so be is working as a link.
- Look at what follows: white, an adjective that describes the subject.
- An adjective that describes the subject after a linking verb is a predicate adjective.
Answer: is white = nominal predicate (is = linking verb, white = predicate adjective).
3. Analyse the predicate in: My uncle is a well-known architect. base
Show solution
- Verb: is.
- What follows is a noun phrase, a well-known architect, and it renames the subject: my uncle and the architect are the same person.
- A noun that renames the subject after a linking verb is a predicate nominative.
- The whole phrase counts, adjective included.
Answer: is a well-known architect = nominal predicate (is = linking verb, a well-known architect = predicate nominative).
4. Analyse the predicate in: Emma is in the gym. intermedio
Show solution
- The verb is again a form of be, but that alone proves nothing.
- Check what follows: in the gym is a prepositional phrase of place. It does not rename Emma and it does not describe her, it tells where she is.
- Try the replacement test: Emma is located in the gym keeps the meaning, so be has full meaning here.
- Since nothing completes the subject, there is no predicate nominative or predicate adjective.
Answer: is = verbal predicate (be meaning to be located); in the gym = adverbial of place.
5. Analyse the predicate in: The bridge was built in 1890. intermedio
Show solution
- The verb looks double: was + built.
- Built is not describing the bridge as a quality, it reports an action the subject received.
- The proof: you can add the doer. The bridge was built by Austrian engineers still works.
- So was is not a linking verb here, it is the auxiliary of the passive voice, and the two words form one verb.
Answer: was built = verbal predicate (passive voice); in 1890 = adverbial of time.
6. Analyse both predicates in: The soup tasted salty, so Mia tasted it again. intermedio
Show solution
- The same verb appears twice, so it must be tested twice.
- First clause: swap in is. The soup is salty keeps the meaning, so tasted is a linking verb and salty describes the subject.
- Second clause: Mia is it again makes no sense, so here tasted is an action verb.
- Confirm with the object test: the second tasted has a direct object, it, and linking verbs never take one.
Answer: tasted salty = nominal predicate (tasted = linking verb, salty = predicate adjective); tasted it = verbal predicate (action verb + direct object).
7. Analyse both predicates in: After the race the runners looked exhausted, but nobody wanted to be replaced. avanzato
Show solution
- Two clauses, so two predicates.
- First clause: the runners were exhausted keeps the meaning, so looked is a linking verb and exhausted is a predicate adjective.
- Note the contrast: in the runners looked at the scoreboard, looked would be an action verb with a prepositional object.
- Second clause: wanted is an action verb, and to be replaced is the infinitive it governs, so the two are analysed together.
Answer: looked exhausted = nominal predicate (looked = linking verb, exhausted = predicate adjective); wanted to be replaced = verbal predicate (action verb + passive infinitive).
8. One of these sentences is wrong in standard English: He felt badly about the mistake. / He felt bad about the mistake. Which one, and why? avanzato
Show solution
- Test the verb first: he was bad about the mistake keeps the sense of the sentence, so felt is a linking verb here.
- A linking verb is completed by an adjective describing the subject, never by an adverb describing the action.
- Badly is an adverb, so it would describe how the feeling was carried out, as in he felt badly with his gloves on, which is a different meaning.
- The adjective form bad is therefore the one that completes the subject.
Answer: He felt bad is the standard sentence: felt bad = nominal predicate (felt = linking verb, bad = predicate adjective). He felt badly only works if felt is an action verb about touching something.
FAQ
what is the difference between a verbal and a nominal predicate?
In a verbal predicate all the meaning sits in the verb, which stands on its own: Anna runs. In a nominal predicate the verb is only a link and the meaning is carried by the word after it: Anna is fast. That means a nominal predicate always has two parts, the linking verb and the subject complement, and they are analysed together.
how do I know if a verb is a linking verb?
Use the swap test: replace the verb with is, am or are. If the sentence still makes sense, the verb is linking. The soup tasted salty becomes the soup is salty, so tasted is linking. She tasted the soup becomes she is the soup, which is nonsense, so there tasted is an action verb. A second check is the object test: linking verbs never take a direct object.
is was always a linking verb?
No. Was is a linking verb only when the word after it renames or describes the subject, as in the room was silent. It is an auxiliary in the passive voice, the bridge was built, and in the past progressive, she was running, and in both cases the predicate is verbal. It also has a full meaning of place or existence, as in the keys were on the table.
should I say I feel bad or I feel badly?
Say I feel bad. Feel is a linking verb here, so it needs an adjective that describes the subject, and bad is that adjective. Badly is an adverb, so I feel badly literally means that your sense of touch is not working well. The same rule explains why we say the flowers smell sweet, not sweetly.