Okay got that one..
What about The cab driver was driving extremely fast down the street. The very phrase is was driving. Was is a linking verb and driving an action. Is it a linking verb or an action verb? Directions say to underline the verb phrase and indicate action or linking.
These are really confusing me. Lots of linking verbs with an action verb...
The main verb is driving. In this sentence, "was" is a helping or auxiliary verb.
Understanding the difference between linking verbs and action verbs can be confusing, but breaking down the sentence can help clarify things. Let's analyze the sentence: "The cab driver was driving extremely fast down the street."
To determine if "was driving" is a verb phrase, we need to identify the main verb. In this case, the main verb is "driving."
Now, let's categorize the type of verb it is. "Driving" in this sentence is an action verb because it represents an action being performed by the subject (the cab driver). Action verbs express physical or mental activities.
The word "was," on the other hand, is not a verb but an auxiliary verb, also known as a helping verb. Auxiliary verbs are used to form verb phrases and convey tense, aspect, or mood. In this sentence, "was" is helping to form the past continuous tense, indicating an ongoing action in the past.
To underline the verb phrase, you should underline "was driving," indicating that it is an action verb phrase. While "was" is a linking verb in some contexts, such as "He was a cab driver," in this sentence it functions as an auxiliary verb.