一、概说
连系动词是表示不完全谓语关系的动词，它与其后的表语一起构成谓语。常见的连系动词有be(是)，become(成为)，get(变成)，remain(还是)，seem(似乎是)，look(看上去)，feel(感觉)等。连系动词后的表语通常是名词和形容词，有时也可以是代词、数词、副词、介词短语、不定式、动名词、从句等：
His English is excellent. 他的英语很棒。(跟形容词)
He is a famous poet. 他是著名诗人。(跟名词)
Money isn’t everything．金钱不是一切。(跟代词)
She was the first to arrive．她是第一个到达的人。(跟数词)
Who is upstairs? 谁在楼上？(跟副词)
He is with his friends. 他和朋友在一起。(跟介词短语)
He seems to be ill. 他似乎病了。(跟不定式)
Seeing is believing. 眼见为实。(跟动名词)
This is what you need. 这就是你需要的。(跟从句)
二、学习连系动词应注意的两点
1. 关于连系动词后接副词作表语
连系动词后通常可接形容词作表语，一般不接副词：
误：His English is very well. 他的英语很好。(可将well改为good)
误：Be carefully. 小心点。(应将carefully改为careful)
误：The soup tastes nicely. 这汤味道不错。(应将nicely改为nice)
但是，有时连系动词后也可接副词作表语，不过这主要限于in, on, off, out, away, behind, up, down, over, through, around, round, below, inside, outside 等少数副词小品词以及here, there, upstairs, downstairs等少数表示地点或方位的副词：
Mother wasn’t in last night. 母亲昨晚不在家。
The meeting was over at five. 会议五点结束。
Come along. The taxi is outside. 来吧，出租车在外面。
Mother is downstairs waiting for you. 母亲在楼下等你。
2. 关于连系动词后接不定式
(1) 连系动词be后根据情况可自由地接不定式作表语：
My dream is to be a scientist. 我的梦想是当一名科学家。
All I could do was to wait. 我只能等。
My plan was to go from
I was to have seen Mr Kay. 我本要去见凯先生的。
(2) seem, appear, prove, continue, turn out, get, grow, come 等连系动词后也可接不定式(尤其是to be)作表语：
She always seems to be sad. 她常常显得很忧伤。
My advice proved to be wrong. 我的意见证明是错的。
She appears to have many friends. 他好像有很多朋友。
The weather turned out to be fine. 天气结果很好。
Circumstances continue to be favorable. 情况仍然是有利的。
He has grown to like studying English. 他渐渐喜欢学英语了。
【注】若所接不定式为to be，通常可以省略。不过，若其后接的是表语形容词，则to be通常不宜省略。另外，连系动词look后能否接to be似乎尚有争论，不过，在现代英语中接to be的现象已较普遍。
(3) sound, smell, feel, taste, become等连系动词后通常不能接不定式：
误：These oranges taste to be good. (应去掉to be)
误：The roses smell nice. (应去掉to be)
(4) 有的连系动词后接的从句可用不定式来改写：
It seems that that she’s right. / She seems to be right. 她似乎是对的。
It appears that you have made a mistake. / You appear to have made a mistake. 似乎你弄错了。
三、三组连系动词的用法特点及区别
1. appear，look & seem
三者均可表示“好像”、“似乎”，区别如下：
(1) look 指视觉印象，appear 指外表给人的印象，这两者可能是真象也可能是假象，appear的不确定性更大一些，seem 侧重指根据某种迹象作出的推断，也不一定是事实。
(2) 三者均可后接不定式，但 look 之后一般只限于 to be(且较少见)：
He seems [appears，looks] to be tired. 他好像很累了。
He seems [appears] to have traveled a lot. 他似乎去过不少地方。
但是不说He looks to have traveled a lot.
(3) look, seem 之后可接介词 like，但 appear 之后一般不能：
He looks [seems] like a fool. 他看起来像个大傻瓜。
(4) appear 和seem不用于进行时态，但look有时可这样用(尽管较少见)：
He looks [is looking] well. 他看上去气色不错。
但是不说He is seeming [appearing] well.
(5) 三者均可用于 it 开头的句子，且三者之后均可接以 as if 或 as though 引导的从句，另外 appear 和 seem 之后还可接 that 引导的从句：
It looks [seems, appears] as if he has lost interest in his job. 看来他对自己的工作已失去了兴趣。
It seems [appears] that he is very tired. 他似乎很累了。
为避免重复，appear和seem后接的 that 从句有时可用so, not 代之：
"Is he reliable?" "It seems [appears] so (not)."“他可靠吗?”“似乎是可靠的(不可靠)。”
2. look, sound, smell, taste和feel
这几个连系动词的意思分别是“看起来”、“听起来”、“闻起来”、“尝起来”、“摸起来”，使用时注意以下几点：
(1) 通常以被感觉的东西作主语，虽有被动词味，但不用被动语态：
误：The material is felt nice. 这料子摸起来不错。(is felt 应改为feels)
误：The soup is tasted delicious. 这汤味道不错。(is tasted应改为tastes)
(2) 其后均可接介词 like：
This looks (tastes, smells, feels) like an orange. 这东西看起来(吃起来，闻起来，摸起来)像桔子。
另外，taste和smell后还可接介词of，表示“有…的味道”：
It tastes [smells] of fish. 这东西有鱼的味道。
(3) 除look外均不用于进行时态(即使是look用于进行时态也不多见)：
You look [are looking] tired this evening. 今晚你好像很累。
但是不说What you says is sounding reasonable.
【注】feel 表示“感觉”可用于进行时：
How are you feeling now? 你现在感觉如何?
I’m feeling terrible. 我感到难受极了(www.yygrammar.com)。
另外，若以上动词用作实义动词，则可以用于进行时态：
He is tasting the pudding. 他在尝布丁。
(4) 除look外，均不能接 to be(即使是look后接to be也不多见)：
She looks (to be) the best person for this job. 她似乎是做这项工作的最佳人选。
【注】feel 有时可表示“使人感觉起来…”：
It feels cold in here. 这儿很冷。
3. become, come, go, get, grow和turn
这几个词用作连系动词均可表示变化，使用时注意以下几点：
(1) become 和get主要指一个人暂时性的身心变化或永久性的自然变化：
become [get] angry, famous, fat, ill, old, well, deaf, strong, etc 生气，成名，发胖，得病，变老，痊愈，变聋，变强，等
另外，become 和 get 还可用于指天气的变化和社会的趋势：
It’s becoming [getting] cold (dark, cloudy, etc). 天渐冷了(黑了，多云了等)。
Divorce is becoming [getting] more common. 离婚现象越来越常见了。
(2) go 和come表示变化时，前者主要指一种由强到弱或由好到坏的变化(可用于人或事物)，后者则主要指向好的方面变化：
go bald (deaf, insane, etc) 发秃，变聋，发疯等。
The meat’s gone off (gone bad). 肉变味(变坏)了。
The radio’s gone wrong. 收音机出毛病了。
Her wish came true. 她的愿望实现了。
Everything came right. 一切顺利。
另外，go还可用于人或事物颜色的变色，与turn用法相同：
She went [turned] blue with cold. 她冻得脸色发青了。
The rotten meat went [turned] green. 这块腐烂的肉变绿了。
【注】① 但是 go 一般不与 old, tired, ill 等连用，遇此情况要用其他连系动词：grow [get] old 变老，fall [become] ill (sick) 生病，get [feel] tired 疲劳
② go后接形容词通常表示的结果(见上例)，在个别搭配中也表示现状：go hungry 挨饿，go naked 光着身子
③ come 除表示向好的方面变化外，还有以下常见搭配值得注意：come untied 解开，come loose 变松，come undone 松开
(3) grow 主要表示逐渐变化，强调变化的过程：
It began to grow dark. 天色渐渐黑了。
The sea is growing calm. 大海变得平静起来。
The pollution problem is growing serious. 污染问题日见严峻。
(4) 以上连系动词通常接形容词作表语，但有的还可接其他结构，如come, get, grow后可接不定式，become, turn后可接名词，get, grow后可接介词短语：
You’ll soon grow to like her. 你很快就会喜欢她的。
It’s becoming a serious problem．它正在成为一个严重问题。
The little plant grew into a tree. 幼苗长成了一棵树。
They went out of fashion years ago．它们好多年前已变得不时新了。
【注】turn后接名词时，往往表示意想不到的变化，名词前通常用零冠词：
He turned writer after he graduated from a medical college. 他从医学院毕业后当了作家。(比较：He became a writer after graduating from college.)
四、重点考点原创精练
1. Her forehead ____ hot.I’m afraid she is ill.
A.is feeling B.feels C. is felt D. has been felt
2. As is known to us all,glass _____ smooth.
A.feels B. is felt C. is feeling D. will feel
3. What he says _____ to be reasonable.
A.sounds B. feels C. proves D. looks
4. Feeling very ______, he felt _____ he should take some action.
A. angry, strong B. angrily,strongly C.angry, strongly D.angrily,strong
5. The children all looked _____ at the broken model plane and felt quite _____.
A. sad, sad B. sadly, sadly C. sad, sadly D. sadly, sad
6. We don’t care if a hunting dog smells _____, but we really don’t want him to smell ____.
A. well, well B. bad, bad C. well, badly D. badly, bad
7. It was a pity that he ____ blind,but to the joy of his family, his dream of becoming a musician ____ true at last.
A. came, came B. went, went C. came, went D. went, came
8. The dish _____ nice, but the milk _____ sour.
A. is smelt, is smelt B. is smelt, smells C. smells, is smelt D. smells, smells
9. The story of his life _____ interesting.
A. is sounded B. is sounding C. has sounded D. sounds
10. “Do you like the material?” “Yes, it _____ very soft.”(www.yygrammar.com)
A.is feeling B.felt C.feels D. is felt
11. I love to go to the seaside in summer. It _____ good to lie in the sun or swim in the cool sea.
A. does B. feels C. gets D. makes
参考答案：1―5 BACCD 6―10 DDDDC 11 B