- 1. Gold is a metal.
- 2. Charles is my friend’s name.
- 3. The colors of this butterfly are brilliant.
- 4. Iron becomes red in the fire.
- 5. Our condition seemed desperate.
- 6. Bertram proved a good friend in this emergency.
- 7. My soul grows sad with troubles.—Shakspere.
In the first sentence, the verb is not only makes an assertion, but it also connects the rest of the predicate (a metal) with the subject (gold) in such a way that a metal serves as a description or definition of gold.
In sentences 4–7, becomes, seemed, proved, and grows are similarly used.
In such sentences is and other verbs that are used for the same purpose are called copulative (that is, “joining”) verbs.
Is in this use is often called the copula, that is, the “joiner” or “link.”
The forms of the verb is are very irregular. Among the commonest are: am, is, are, was, were, and the verb-phrases has been, have been, had been, shall be, will be.[8]
V. ADVERBS
18. An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
To modify a word is to change or affect its meaning in some way. Thus in “The river fell rapidly,” the adverb rapidly modifies the verb fell by showing how the falling took place. In “I am never late,” “This is absolutely true,” “That is too bad,” the italicized words are adverbs modifying adjectives; in “He came very often,” “He spoke almost hopefully,” “The river fell too rapidly,” they are adverbs modifying other adverbs.
Most adverbs answer the question “How?” “When?” “Where?” or “To what degree or extent?”