I had to go and look up linking verbs when I saw it in your other post. I think writing an article without using "to be" is a good exercise every month or so. It's just a boring verb. However, the trick is to write an article that doesn't sound forced but doesn't use "to be." I like the anecdote about baseball, but I'd still like to see some examples of a statement written with linking verbs and one without. Looking at the list, I feel as if I do use them. Sometimes it's revealing to do a search in your own text and see what you turn up. Nice article! You should consider doing an article on linking verbs for The Writing Cooperative.
Do you edit for them? I’m not sure if I’ve been added as a writer or applied there yet actually. I’ll doublecheck. I’ve been sending most of my language-adjacent pieces to my own “For the Love of Language” pub thus far. Thanks for the recommendation!
1) I had a HS teacher obsessed with commas. It messed me up. The class should have been called "Commas; where to place them and when to second guess their use." I still, have no idea, how to, correctly, use commas.
2) "Never use a big word if a little one will do," then "chthonic"‽ What the hell?
It's not a big one, at only a whopping two syllables, but it's certainly an obscure one hahaha. I love that word, though. It's a shame its calls to use are so uncommon.
I never had too much trouble with commas myself. Although, I contend that there are some uses considered conventional that are actually unnecessary. For example in the sentence, "He said, 'I'm on my way." I would argue the comma unnecessary, where as its role before the larger quote still is. Grammar is weird. That's for certain. Thanks for reading!
I followed what he meant, but I trust he could have explained it better if this weren’t over Facebook and he gave himself time to explain better. Nice to hear from you, Michelle!
So you’re okay with them but do generally check to make sure they’re not overused? I make little point to avoid them as an adult, but I’m certainly aware of them hahaha.
I had to go and look up linking verbs when I saw it in your other post. I think writing an article without using "to be" is a good exercise every month or so. It's just a boring verb. However, the trick is to write an article that doesn't sound forced but doesn't use "to be." I like the anecdote about baseball, but I'd still like to see some examples of a statement written with linking verbs and one without. Looking at the list, I feel as if I do use them. Sometimes it's revealing to do a search in your own text and see what you turn up. Nice article! You should consider doing an article on linking verbs for The Writing Cooperative.
Do you edit for them? I’m not sure if I’ve been added as a writer or applied there yet actually. I’ll doublecheck. I’ve been sending most of my language-adjacent pieces to my own “For the Love of Language” pub thus far. Thanks for the recommendation!
Two comments:
1) I had a HS teacher obsessed with commas. It messed me up. The class should have been called "Commas; where to place them and when to second guess their use." I still, have no idea, how to, correctly, use commas.
2) "Never use a big word if a little one will do," then "chthonic"‽ What the hell?
It's not a big one, at only a whopping two syllables, but it's certainly an obscure one hahaha. I love that word, though. It's a shame its calls to use are so uncommon.
I never had too much trouble with commas myself. Although, I contend that there are some uses considered conventional that are actually unnecessary. For example in the sentence, "He said, 'I'm on my way." I would argue the comma unnecessary, where as its role before the larger quote still is. Grammar is weird. That's for certain. Thanks for reading!
Had to look it up. Hence the "what the hell?" I mean, not perfect... but close.
Also, I don't understand the baseball story at all.
I followed what he meant, but I trust he could have explained it better if this weren’t over Facebook and he gave himself time to explain better. Nice to hear from you, Michelle!
I really never edit anything without running through my head repeatedly "am is are was were be being been." But I'm OK with linking verbs.
So you’re okay with them but do generally check to make sure they’re not overused? I make little point to avoid them as an adult, but I’m certainly aware of them hahaha.
I am comfortable using them when it’s the best choice, and sometimes it is!