copula
1
8.8
- noun
- /ˈkɒpjʊlə/
- Specialized
:
cópula
- The copula in the sentence 'He became an artist' links the subject with the complement, expressing a state of being.
- copula verb
And what it is you see, I was about to do the double copula is is I always do that.
- And what it is you see, I was about to do the double copula is is I always do that.
Examples
-
The multiplicity of worlds that Zamiatin enumerates as coexisting is, in fact, linked by the copula of the verb to be (dash in Russian), which has the function of performing a metaphorical predicative transition from one world to another.
Academic text (2000) -
Claims depend on stark and familiar use of the copula.
Blog text (26) -
The subject, you know, when we say subject verb object, we can also say subject copula predicate.
-
The former copula between art and politics needed restoration through reconfiguration.
Academic text (2011) -
The exception was the use of the uncontracted singular copula is, which remained the same.
Academic text (2015) -
The exception was the uncontracted plural copula, which decreased from 62% of the children responding correctly at age 5 to 50% at ages 6-7.
Academic text (2015) -
Sylvia's dialect often reveals a unique feature of AAVE, the absence of 'is' as a copula and as an auxiliary verb (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 171).
Academic text (2003) -
Rice, Wexler, and Hershberger (1998) reported a protracted development for a composite measure of tense markers that included regular past tense -ed, third person singular -s, copula be, and the auxiliaries be and do.
Academic text (2012) -
In English grammar, a copula connects the subject to its complement, like in the sentence 'She is a doctor.'
-
To form a complete thought, a sentence often includes a copula that asserts the identity or state of the subject, such as 'They are happy.'
Synonyms
A verb that connects the main person or thing in a sentence to a word that gives information about it
A verb that connects the subject to a word or phrase that gives information about it
Surface Forms
Etymology
Copula comes from the Latin copula, which means 'a link' or 'a bond', and it is the same root as the English word couple. So a copula is like a little bridge, often the verb 'is', that joins the subject to its description or state, which is why it names a linking verb.