Copular Verbs and Their Complements

Grammatically, what's the difference between "Joe saw the CEO and "Joe is the CEO"? In the first one, you have a classic case of a verb, “saw,” with its direct object, the CEO. But in the second one, the verb “is” is not so much an action as a reflection back on the subject. Verbs that are all about being are called copular verbs or linking verbs and the word that follows is called the complement. Here's everything you need to know.

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