PRESENTS
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V ithneny Lucy the Action Verb Li nki ng Verb
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By Coert Voorhees
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V itnheny b r e V n o i t c A
L ucy the Linking Verb
Written by Coert Voorhees Illustrations by Powerhouse Animation
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Gather ‘round everybody and let’s have ourselves a wonderful time. I just love bringing words and groups of words together, don’t you?
I express emotion!! Yep, I’m always here, always ready with my commas and exclamation points, just in case.
e
I am a chameleon. A spy. An undercover operative. I infiltrate the sentence and act as whatever part of speech suits me.
itio n os
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the Ad
I’m perfectly happy to link Nouns and Pronouns with the appropriate Adjectives, but it’s not like I’m going to expend a lot of energy doing so.
L i nk i n
Izzy
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L i’l P e t
They call me Preposition because I’m pre-positioned. I’m first. At the front. Before every other word in the phrase? Got it?
Ben
I modify a Verb, Adjective, or other Adverb. I tell how, when, where, to what extent, and under what condition. I often end in –ly, but I don’t have to.
A d je
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Co n ni
Ja k
I modify a Noun or Pronoun. I tell what kind, which one, how many, or how much. I pride myself on being the most artistic of the parts of speech.
Some people say I’m all over the place. Some people call me a ball of energy. I take that as a compliment, because I just like to go, go, go!
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L ucy
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l I take the place of one or more Nouns or Pronouns. I always want the Noun's job, and I hang out with the Verb and Adjective.
Parts
Vi nny
Ne
I name a specific person, place, thing, or idea. It’s a big responsibility, naming things— a responsibility that requires a certain attention to detail.
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VINNY THE ACTION VERB AND LUCY THE LINKING VERB © 2019 Grammaropolis Graphic Design by Mckee Frazior Printed by Friesens, Altona, Manitoba, Canada Text and Illustrations © 2011 by Grammaropolis LLC
This book is typeset in Komika Text Distributed throughout the world by Ingram Publisher Services www.ingrambook.com Printed in Canada
Vinny the action verb lived to express action. I sprint!
I dart!
1
Hamlet
He loved to jump and fly. 2
Lucy the linking verb did not share Vinny’s taste for action.
Hamlet
Why don’t you just sit down and be?
3
I wish you expressed more action.
Hamlet
That is not who I am. I express a state of being.
It was hard for them to play together. 4
Vinny’s dream was to express his action as a superhero.
Hamlet
I will fight crime!
I will save people!
We are not superheroes. We are verbs. We = verbs.
5
Luckily for Vinny, there was a knock at the door. It was Li’l Pete the preposition.
Jake the adjective is in trouble.
We will help him.
6
Vinny knew that he couldn’t save Jake by himself.
I need a noun to help me move an adjective.
There are no nouns. Jake is alone. 7
Lucy, on the other hand, worked well with adjectives.
Jake needs us!
Okay, fine. to be, or not to be.
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Li’l Pete led them all to the adjective in need.
He’s just through this park, and across the street, and past the bridge.
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They finally came upon poor Jake.
He’s under the car.
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Jake! We found you!
Lucy expressed Jake’s state of being.
You seem scared.
It’s Benny the adverb.
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I thought I was happy, but he told me I was not happy.
Yeah, he becomes mean when he is hungry.
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Vinny’s state of being was “impatient”. He wanted action, so he tried to be a transitive verb. He lifted the car. He offered his hand.
What are you doing? Using my action with an object.
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Being transitive wasn’t working, so he tried using his action without any objects.
I guess you are intransitive now?
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Come on, Jake! Crawl. Slither. Squeeze. Escape!
Lucy grew tired of Vinny’s transitive / intransitive nonsense.
Jake, change your state of being. Be calm.
I can’t.
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She waved down a passerby.
Hey, Slang. Tell him to relax. Be cool, dude.
16
Well, well, well.
Oh, no. Here comes Benny!
I’m gonna bounce.
Vinny was worried. He knew the adverb could pick on him, too. 17
This called for some superhero teamwork. Lucy suggested a state of being.
Hey, Benny. You seem hungry.
Somewhat.
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Vinny gave Li’l Pete a job.
Li’l Pete, lead Benny to the store for some ice cream.
To the store! For some ice cream! 19
With Benny finally gone, Jake’s state of being changed.
You look great.
I feel great.
And he crawled out to safety. 20
Just in time for some ice cream.
I don’t know what got into me.
That’s okay.
I want you to be very happy.
21
Admit it. You had fun.
Being a superhero? Yeah, it was okay.
22
Being in Action: Verb Notes
An action verb expresses action!
ACTION
VERBS
They en joy Mandy family time. ate a p ear. Bill wal ked.
S B R E V LINKING ld. is co n i u g n e p My s red. a w e l p p That a ad. s s k o o l She
A linking verb expresses a state of being.
ACTION VEesRmBenS tal or
An action verb express rbs can be physical action. Action ve transitive or intransitive.
I watched a great movie and danced on my way home from the theater. Then I slept all night.
EXAMPLES watched danced slept
TRANSITIVE VERBS
Transitive verbs pass action to an object.
EXAMPLES
Francine played basketball. Shawn climbed a mountain.
In those examples, played passes its action to the direct object basketball, and climbed passes its action to the direct object mountain.
INTRANSITIVE VERBS
Intransitive verbs work
alone, without objects.
EXAMPLES
In these examples, there are no objects after danced or slept, so the verbs are intransitive.
Francine danced. Shawn slept.
TRANSITIVE OR INTRANSITIVE? Some words can be transitive or intransitive, depending on how they’re used.
TRANSITIVE.
ger I ate a hambur rger! u b m a h A ? T I ate WHA sitive! n a r t is b r e v So the
How do you tell? 1. Find the action verb. 2. Ask “what?” after it. 3. If the answer is in the sentence, you’ve found a transitive verb!!
INTRANSITIVE I ate before Lucy.
I ate WHAT ? I certainly didn’t eat Lucy, so the answer isn’t in the sentence, The verb must be intransitive!
LINKING VERBS
s link the subject A linking verb expresses a state of being. Linking verb the subject. of the verb to information that renames or describes ’t have to. They often take a form of the verb “to be,” but they don
HOT TIP: If you can replace the verb with = , and the sentence still makes sense, it’s a linking verb!
EXAMPLES
of joy. le d n u b a = g o d y M y. My dog is a bundle of jo happy = e H y p p a h ks o lo e H linking verbs! re a ks o lo d n a Is ! e s n Both make se
ACTION VERB OR LINKING VERB?
Some words can be linking verbs or action verbs, depending on the way they’re used. How do you know which is which? Here’s one way to tell: replace the verb with a form of “to be.” If the sentence still makes sense, it was a linking verb all along!
#1
This applesauce tastes wonderful.
This applesauce is wonderful. And it makes sense! Tastes is a linking verb.
#2
Sharon tastes . the applesauce
Sharon is the applesauce. Hmm, no way! That means tastes is an action verb!
Where grammar lives!
Be sure to meet all the parts of speech!
Learn more about the parts of speech, meet the Punctuation Department, and visit the rest of Grammaropolis online at grammaropolis.com. Grammaropolis is published in association with Six Foot Press. For catalog and ordering information go to sixfootpress.com.