The Verb "To BE," is in itself, a Special Class of Verbs in English called the COPULA.
- 2. N + Vt + N (e.g., "He hit me.")
Here the verb is transitive so the action continues on (unfortunately in this case) to another Noun, the object.
The last three Kernel Sentences use a special verb in English. Some grammarians list it by itself as an alternate category of verbs; and they give it a special name--the Copula.
The Copula (C) is conjugated differently than any other verb in English.
- 3. N + C + N (e.g., "I am Napoleon.")
- 4. N + C + Adjective (e.g., "I am crazy.")
- 5. N + C + Adverb [of location] (e.g., "I am here.")
With these five sentence structures, we can discuss the universe--albeit very pedantically and laboriously.