Copular Verbs

Be is the most common copular verb in English. Its forms are: is. am. are. was and were. Seem, appear, look, turn, become, taste, smell, feel and get are also copular verbs.

Copular verbs are different from other verbs in some ways. For example, we use adjectives to modify copular verbs whereas we use adverbs to modify other verbs. You can learn more about copular verbs here.

Can you use copular verbs correctly? Test your understanding with this worksheet.

1. She became …………………… (angry / angrily)
2. I feel …………………….. (sad / sadly)
3. She looks ……………………… (beautiful / beautifully)
4. The child seemed …………………….. (unhappy / unhappily)
5. The cake tasted ……………………….. (awful / awfully)
6. Let’s leave now. It is getting …………………….. (late / lately)
7. She appeared ………………………. (anxious / anxiously)
8. She sounded …………………………. (happy / happily)
9. He waited ……………………… (patient / patiently)
10. She spoke ……………………….. (angry / angrily)
11. This perfume smells ……………………… (good / well)
12. She looked ……………………….. (hopeless / hopelessly)
13. He grew ……………………… (old / oldly)
14. The children performed ………………………… (beautiful / beautifully)
15. She became ………………………… (successful / successfully)

Answers

1. angry, 2. sad, 3. beautiful, 4, unhappy, 5. awful, 6. late, 7. anxious, 8. happy, 9. patiently, 10. angrily, 11. good, 12. hopeless, 13. old, 14. beautifully, 15. successful