+98.+ Do you notice any difference in the two verbs in the following
sentences:
The boy found the ball.
The earth is round.
In the sentence, _The boy found the ball_, the word _ball_ tells _what_
the boy _found_. The verb _found_ expresses action; it tells what the
boy _does_. _Boy_ is the subject of the action--the one who performs the
action. The word _ball_ is the _object_ of the action. It shows the
receiver of the action. In the sentence, _The earth is round_, _is_ does
not express action. The earth is not doing anything, it simply _is_. The
verb _is_ expresses a state or condition and is incomplete, for you do
not know what state or condition is expressed until we add the other
word or words which describe the state or condition.
Notice the following sentences:
The earth is round.
The earth is our home.
The earth is a sphere.
The earth is large.
The words _round_, _sphere_, _home_ and _large_, describe the earth
which is the subject of the verb _is_.
+99.+ So we have two classes of incomplete verbs, the verbs that express
action and the verbs that express state or condition. The verbs which
express action are called _transitive_ verbs. Transitive is a word
derived from the Latin, and means literally _passing over_.
+100.+ So a transitive verb describes an action which _passes over_
from the subject to the object. As for example in the sentence, _The
player struck the ball_, _struck_ is a transitive verb--a verb of
action--describing the action of the subject, _player_, which passes
over to the object, _ball_. Therefore we have our definition of a
transitive verb:
+A transitive verb is one that has a complement showing who or what
receives the action expressed by the verb.+
+The complement or word that denotes the receiver of the action
expressed by a transitive verb is called the object.+
When you look up the meaning of verbs in your dictionary, you will find
some verbs marked _v.i._, and some verbs marked _v.t._ _V.t._ is the
abbreviation for _verb transitive_. Whenever you find a verb marked
_v.t._, you know that it is a transitive verb, a verb of action, one
which requires an object to complete its meaning. _V.i._ is the
abbreviation for _verb intransitive_. Some grammarians use the term
_intransitive_ to include both _complete_ and _copulative_ verbs. We
have used the terms complete and incomplete because they are much
simpler and clearer in describing the two general classes of verbs, but
you will remember that when you find verbs marked _v.i._ in the
dictionary that these include _complete_ and _copulative_ verbs.
+101.+ Now notice these sentences:
The earth is round.
The earth is a sphere.
In these sentences the verb _is_ does not express action, but _connects_
or _couples_ the complements _round_ and _sphere_ with the subject
_earth_. Verbs used in this way are called _copulative_ verbs, from the
word _copula_, which means to _complete_ or to _connect_. The words
_round_ and _sphere_ are not the objects of the verb, for they do not
describe the receiver of any action. They are the words which describe
the state or condition expressed in the verb _is_, and are called the
attribute complement of the verb.
You note that this complement may be either an adjective or a noun. In
the sentence, _The earth is round_, the adjective, _round_, is used as
the complement; in the sentence, _The earth is a sphere_, the noun,
_sphere_, is used as the complement. So we have our definition of
copulative verbs.
+102.+ +Verbs that express state or condition are called copulative
verbs.+
+The word or words that complete the meaning of an incomplete verb
expressing state or condition, are called the complement, or attribute
complement.+
There are only a few of these copulative verbs. All forms of the verb,
_be_; like _am_, _is_, _are_, _was_ and _were_, and the verb phrases
like _must be_, _can be_, _will be_, _shall be_, _have been_, _had
been_, etc.; and the verbs _seem_, _appear_, _become_, _look_, _feel_,
_taste_, _sound_ and _smell_, are the principal copulative verbs.