0

The verb 'seem' is a specimen linking verb, as in:

(1) He seems a nice guy.

But it can have a clause as its complement, as in:

(2) He seems to be a nice guy. [to-infinitive clause]

(3) It seems that he is a nice guy. [that-clause]

In (2) or (3) or both, is the verb 'seem' still a linking verb or something else?

Answers to another question, don't specifically say whether the verb 'seem' as in (2) or (3) can be classified as a linking verb or not.

If you or anyone can locate anything close to a possible answer to my question in the link, please let me know.

Community
  • 1
JK2
  • 6,553
  • (1) is essentially the same as (2) He seems [to be] a nice guy. – WS2 Mar 24 '16 at 00:18
  • Sorry, but I'm not sure what you're trying to say by that. I mean, who doesn't know they are "essentially the same"? Do you mean therefore that it's a linking verb in (2)? If not, the question still stands. – JK2 Mar 24 '16 at 00:22
  • I don't know much about grammar, so take this with a grain of salt. In (1) seems is a linking verb and a nice guy is a predicative complement; in (2) seems is a catenative verb and to be a nice guy is a catenative complement, to be being the linking verb. I don't know what to tell you about (3), except that it features an it-transposition. More here and here. – Yay Mar 24 '16 at 01:23
  • So according to the link above, in (3) that he is a nice guy is the notional subject. Seems isn't a linking verb simply because there's nothing to link. – Yay Mar 24 '16 at 01:44
  • @Yay The judgment that that he is a nice guy in (3) is the notional subject is untenable, I think. If it is, then you should be able to replace It with that "notional subject" without rendering (3) ungrammatical, which it does. *That he is a nice guy seems. – JK2 Mar 24 '16 at 02:02
  • JK2: The grammar behind "seem" is explained in detail in the second answer of the question linked. – Yay Mar 24 '16 at 02:07
  • 1
    @JK2 Define "linking verb" ;) If you can then I'm sure you'll have your answer. – curiousdannii Mar 24 '16 at 04:43
  • @curiousdannii My question sort of asks the exact definition of a linking verb. So to ask me to define it would be tantamount to asking me to answer my own question. I mean, if I knew the answer, why would I even ask? :) – JK2 Mar 24 '16 at 04:57
  • @JK2 What I meant was that in (1), the to be is simply elided. – WS2 Mar 24 '16 at 10:59
  • @Yay Does that "grammar behind seem explained in the second answer" tell you whether it's a linking verb in (2) and (3)? If so, why don't you tell me here in the comment section? Do you even figure that out yourself? I doubt that. – JK2 Mar 24 '16 at 14:38
  • Nope, but it does explain why that he is a nice guy could be considered a notional subject in (3). If that is true, I don't see how it could be a linking verb. Btw, I find this question really interesting and I hope it won't get closed. I agree with you that the alleged duplicate doesn't come anywhere close to answering your question, but being condescendent won't get you anywhere. People don't respond favorably to rudeness here. Anyway, if it eventually gets closed, you can also raise the issue on Meta. – Yay Mar 24 '16 at 15:04
  • @Yay I thought you were one of those who voted to close. Apparently not. Sorry for my misunderstanding. And I wasn't condescending or rude. 'Dumbfounded' or 'frustrated' might be the word. – JK2 Mar 25 '16 at 02:12
  • @Yay I don't understand how the that-clause is anything like "a notional subject" or "an extraposed subject" or "a postponed subject" (whatever you want to call it). Like I said in my earlier comment, in (3) you can't replace the grammatical subject It with the that-clause without making it ungrammatical. (The fact that the prof. says otherwise in that link only makes his answer less reliable.) So it's undeniable that the that-clause in (3) is a complement of the verb 'seem'. So the only remaining question may be whether a linking verb can have a clause as a complement or not. – JK2 Mar 25 '16 at 02:15
  • It's an impersonal construction, not extraposition. See The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Huddleston & Pullum 2002) starting on page 961 for some discussion of why you might choose not to analyze it as extraposition. –  Mar 25 '16 at 04:40
  • @snailboat That's what I'm talking about. :) – JK2 Mar 25 '16 at 04:58
  • 1
    You still haven't given us a definition or link to a definition for "linking verb". Do that and I'd be happy to vote to reopen it. – curiousdannii Mar 28 '16 at 02:57
  • @curiousdannii If the lack of the definition of 'linking verb' was the reason for closing this question, why was it marked as 'duplicate'? Seriously, I just don't get it. – JK2 Mar 28 '16 at 03:28
  • People can vote for multiple reasons, but it only shows the reason with the most close votes. – curiousdannii Mar 28 '16 at 04:03
  • @curiousdannii And the reason with the most close votes doesn't make sense to me. – JK2 Mar 29 '16 at 00:31

1 Answers1

1

A linking verb is one that licenses a predicate nominative, a noun or adjectival phrase that gives an equivalent for the subject or describes the subject respectively. The predicative nominative differs in a number of ways from an object, which is a noun phrase that receives the action of a transitive verb. We can use these differences to determine whether seems is a linking verb:

  • Can seems take an adjectival predicate nominative? Yes, we can have the following characterization of him:

He seems nice.

Can't do that with a transitive verb:

*She saw nice.

  • How many things are involved? For a linking verb, the answer is one:

    He seems like a nice guy.

There's only the subject he, who happens to be a nice guy. In

She saw a nice guy

there are two people, the observer and the observed.

  • Linking verbs cannot be transposed into a passive construction. Will this work with seems? No:

*It is seemed to be a nice guy by him.

Contrast this with

A nice guy was seen by her.

Seems seems to pass the syntactic tests for a linking verb.

deadrat
  • 44,678