Parsing OB week 9

[sssj30]

We have some questions from the verb lesson and parsing for the lesson on The Defeat of Cyrus.

1. The quarrel between the two brothers daily became more bitter. . . .
the verb "became" in the answer guide is listed as action/transitive/present tense/singular/predicate. My daughter thinks it is linking verb with a predicate adjective "bitter" and past tense.

2. There hearts were so heavy, . . .
the verb "were "in the answer guide is listed as a copula for the role. The book says copula has to have a predicate noun and heavy is a predicate adj. so shouldn't it just be a linking verb.

3. The three definitions for verbs are action, state and being. What is the difference between state and being?

[Lene Mahler Jaqua]

1. It's a linking verb. Definitely. If the Answer Key says differently, then it's a typo/oversight from proofing so many tables. Sorry.

2. There hearts were so heavy, . . .
the verb "were "in the answer guide is listed as a copula for the role. The book says copula has to have a predicate noun and heavy is a predicate adj. so shouldn't it just be a linking verb.

I hope it says "Their hearts were so heavy" or we have another typo in the text.

Copula, linking verb, predicate noun, predicate adjective... they are all related in the same soup.

In grade school texts for grammar courses, a copula is often called a linking verb. It is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate noun or a predicate adjective.

But the copula actually has a more narrow definition when you use it exclusively for logic to denote a verbal equal sign, where the term linking verb has a broader definition as anything that links the subject to something the subject is more or less equal to.

She was happy.
She became happy.
She felt happy.
She looked happy.

3. The three types of verbs should be transitive verbs and intransitive verbs and linking verbs. If you could point me to where you are looking in the Homer text, perhaps I am misunderstanding what you are asking here.

Sometimes we talk about 'state of being' verbs but they are the same as linking verbs.

Lene

[sssj30]

Just need to clarify:
1. Became would be a linking verb, would it be in the past tense as well. I become, I became, I will become? is that right.

2. My typo on the "there". I am still confused about copula. When should we use it as the role when we are parsing? What should we use as the role for a linking verb that isn't a copula or are they always a copula?
Sorry this is a new term for me. I feel like I am relearning grammar or learning it for the first time with my daughter as she goes through this book and Rod and Staff 7th grade.

3. When parsing the second step is to define: action, being, or state (pg. 101). So our question is what is the difference between being and state? A being verb is only a form of to be and a state is one of the other linking verbs?

I thought of two other questions about the parsing so I will just add them to the end here:
4. We just finished the lesson of Rod and Staff on transitive verbs and it talks about the subject as the receiver of an action.
" The cow has been brought home by Rover."
How would you parse the verb/verbs in this sentence?

5. We also just recently finished a lesson on the progressive and emphatic forms of the verb. How would that be parsed or would that not be included?

6. I thought I was a little bit familiar with parsing from teaching Latin years ago, but I feel like I have jumped in way over my head. As a reminder: Voice is active or passive, Mood is imperative, indicative or subjunctive, Tense is present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, future perfect, number is singular or plural, and person is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Is that correct?

In two of the exercises from week 9 (Instructor's Guide pg. 44 and 45) "could sleep" and "could secure" are listed as potential past. I see how that make sense to describe it as potential using the helping verb could, but I am not familiar with what that is . . . a tense? I feel like I have too much terminology floating around and I need to get it to all lined up right so everything will make sense.

I want to add what we have covered in Rod and Staff to the parsing as we come to it, but I also want to make sure I am adding it to the right section of the chart.

Thanks,
Sarah

[Carolyn]

1 - Yes, 'become' is a linking verb in all tenses.

2 - Copulas can be used with predicate adjectives as well. Harvey's uses the example "Sugar is sweet". Logically, you may need to add a noun to the predicate, such as "sugar is a sweet substance" ... but Harvey's doesn't concern itself with that level of precision. Now, as to whether all linking verbs are copulae or not, there are differences of opinion. According to Traditional Logic, our preferred logic text, a copula must be a form of the verb be. That rules out grows, appeared, seems, etc. The role of a non-'be' linking verb could be 'links X and Y (where X and Y are the subject and predicate adj/noun.

3. A verb of being shows simple existence (ie, being.) God is. A verb of state points to what state something is in. God is love. Verbs of state can be linking (possibly always are, but my mind isn't up to that level of exclusion at the moment), while a verb of being is never linking.

4. Has been brought is parsed as a verb, action, transitive, passive voice, indicative mood, present perfect tense, third person singular.

5. The progressive and emphatic (and interrogative) forms are called "coordinate forms of conjugation". We've generally left them out of parsing, but they can certainly be included if you like.

6. Latin doesn't have a potential mode. In English, it is described as "asserting the power, necessity, liberty, duty, or liability of acting or being in a certain state." The signs of the potential are may, can, could, would, should, must, and might. Add potential to your list of moods (or modes) and you'll be all set!