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A2 – B2

Linking Verbs: The Complete Guide

Everything you need to understand linking verbs in English, why they take adjectives not adverbs, and how to tell them apart from action verbs, with exam practice.

📖 Reading time: ~8 minutes ✅ Reviewed by a CELTA-qualified teacher 🎯 Covers A1 to B2

📋 What's in This Guide

1. Introduction — What Are Linking Verbs?
2. Quick Summary
3. Common Linking Verbs
4. Linking Verbs vs Action Verbs
5. The Classic Test Case — Good vs Well
6. Common Mistakes
7. Exercises
8. Mini Quiz
9. Exam Focus — Cambridge, IELTS, SELT
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Related Grammar Guides
12. Book a Free Level Test

1. Introduction — What Are Linking Verbs?

Linking verbs (also called copular verbs) connect the subject of a sentence to a description of it, rather than showing an action. "She seems tired" doesn't describe something Sarah does, it describes a quality of Sarah herself. This matters grammatically because linking verbs are followed by an adjective, not an adverb, the exact opposite of what many learners instinctively reach for.

2. Quick Summary

⚡ Linking Verbs at a Glance

DefinitionA verb connecting the subject to a description, not an action

Followed byAn adjective, never an adverb: She seems happy (not happily)

Common linking verbsbe, seem, become, appear, feel, look, sound, taste, smell, get

Common Mistake"She looks beautifully" instead of "She looks beautiful"

3. Common Linking Verbs

Linking Verb	Example
be	She is intelligent.
seem	He seems nervous.
become	It became clear that we were lost.
appear	The situation appears complicated.
feel	I feel tired today.
look	You look happy.
sound	That sounds great.
taste	This soup tastes delicious.
smell	The bread smells amazing.
get (informal, become)	It's getting late.
remain	The room remained silent.
turn	The leaves turn brown in autumn.

💡

A quick test If you can replace the verb with a form of "be" and the sentence still roughly makes sense, it's probably a linking verb: "She seems tired" → "She IS tired." This test doesn't work for action verbs: "She runs fast" → "She IS fast" changes the meaning, confirming "runs" here is an action verb, not linking.

4. Linking Verbs vs Action Verbs

Several common verbs (look, feel, taste, smell) can function as EITHER linking verbs or action verbs depending on meaning, and the grammar changes accordingly.

Sentence	Function	Why
She looks happy.	Linking (+ adjective)	Describes her appearance/state.
She looked at the photo carefully.	Action (+ adverb)	Describes how she performed the action of looking.
The soup tastes good.	Linking (+ adjective)	Describes a quality of the soup.
He tasted the soup carefully.	Action (+ adverb)	Describes how he performed the action of tasting.

5. The Classic Test Case — Good vs Well

The most commonly tested linking-verb pattern involves "good" (adjective) and "well" (usually an adverb). After a linking verb, "good" is correct; after an action verb, "well" is correct.

Sentence	Correct Word	Why
The food tastes ___.	good	"Taste" here is linking; needs an adjective.
She sings ___.	well	"Sing" here is an action; needs an adverb.
I feel ___ today.	good	"Feel" here is linking (describing a state); needs an adjective.

For the complete rule, including the special case where "well" itself is also an adjective (meaning "healthy"), see our full guide to Good vs Well.

6. Common Mistakes

❌ Incorrect	✅ Correct	Why
She looks beautifully.	She looks beautiful.	"Looks" here is linking (describing her appearance), so it needs an adjective, not an adverb.
This cake tastes deliciously.	This cake tastes delicious.	"Tastes" is linking here; the adverb form is incorrect after it.
I feel badly about it.	I feel bad about it.	"Feel" describing an emotional state is linking and needs the adjective "bad," not the adverb "badly."
He became successfully.	He became successful.	"Become" is always a linking verb and always needs an adjective.

7. Exercises

A. Gap Fill — Choose the correct form (8 questions)

1. She looks ___ today. (happy/happily)

2. This soup tastes ___. (delicious/deliciously)

3. He became ___ after years of hard work. (successful/successfully)

4. I feel ___ about the decision. (bad/badly)

5. That sounds ___! (great/greatly)

6. The room remained ___ during the exam. (silent/silently)

7. She sings ___. (action verb — well/good)

8. The bread smells ___. (amazing/amazingly)

Show Answers (A)

1. happy 2. delicious 3. successful 4. bad 5. great 6. silent 7. well 8. amazing

B. Multiple Choice (5 questions)

1. She looks ___. (a) beautiful (b) beautifully

2. This cake tastes ___. (a) delicious (b) deliciously

3. I feel ___ today. (a) good (b) well (as an adverb)

4. He became ___. (a) successful (b) successfully

5. She looked at me ___. (action verb) (a) careful (b) carefully

Show Answers (B)

1.a 2.a 3.a 4.a 5.b

C. Error Correction (4 questions)

1. She looks beautifully.

2. This cake tastes deliciously.

3. I feel badly about it.

4. He became successfully.

Show Answers (C)

1. She looks beautiful.
2. This cake tastes delicious.
3. I feel bad about it.
4. He became successful.

D. Freer Practice — Write Your Own Sentences (2 tasks)

1. Write a sentence using "seem" or "appear" as a linking verb, followed by an adjective.

2. Write two sentences using "look": one as a linking verb (+ adjective), one as an action verb (+ adverb).

Show Answers (D)

Model answers will vary. Examples:
1. "She seems confident about the exam."
2. "He looks tired." / "He looked at the map carefully."

8. Mini Quiz

9. Exam Focus — Cambridge, IELTS, SELT

Exam	How This Is Tested	Sample Question
Cambridge B1 Preliminary / B2 First	The adjective-after-linking-verb rule is a classic Use of English error-correction pattern.	"She looked beautifully at the party." → identify and correct the error.
IELTS Speaking	Accurate use of linking verbs with adjectives (not adverbs) is a basic accuracy marker across all bands.	"The experience sounds amazing" used naturally when describing something.
Trinity GESE/ISE (SELT)	Describing feelings and reactions naturally relies heavily on linking verbs.	"I feel nervous about the interview."

10. Frequently Asked Questions

A verb that connects the subject to a description of it, rather than an action, such as be, seem, become, feel, look, sound, taste and smell.

Because they describe a quality of the subject itself, not how an action is performed, and adjectives describe nouns/subjects while adverbs describe actions.

Try replacing it with a form of "be": if the sentence still makes sense ("She seems tired" → "She IS tired"), it's linking. If it doesn't ("She runs fast" → "She IS fast" changes the meaning), it's an action verb.

Yes — verbs like look, feel, taste and smell can be either, depending on whether they describe a quality (linking) or a physical action (action verb).

Confusing "good" (adjective, correct after linking verbs) with "well" (usually an adverb, correct after action verbs): "This tastes good," not "this tastes well."

Yes — describing feelings, reactions and impressions naturally relies heavily on linking verbs and comes up constantly in conversation.

📅 Ready to Master Linking Verbs — and Every Other Grammar Point?

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