ENGLISH | WRITING
Was Anyone Else Taught to Avoid Linking Verbs?
A strange time in English education
To look back on it now almost seems like a fever dream, but there was a time when “be,” “am,” “is,” “are,” “was,” “were,” and “appear” were each a part of a list of “banned words.” From ninth grade till the end of twelfth grade, each use of these “banned words” resulted in point deductions.
In September, teachers were lenient. But if by January, God forbid, you used the word “is” in your paper, you’d see a letter grade deduction. Looking back on it now, it all seems like some hilarious ruse.
For a complete list of what linguists consider linking verbs, and for a complete understanding of the ridiculous sorts of hoops we spent half a decade jumping through, click here.
I spent four entire years finding convoluted substitutions for the words “is,” “am,” and “are” in every English paper I ever wrote. Like the high school teachers who say with straight faces, “this behavior won’t stand in college!” These restrictions were always put in place under the guise of gearing us toward collegiate writing.
But when my friends and I graduated from high school, we were shocked to find, not only that college professors were often among the least rigid breeds on earth, but that an apparent majority of them don’t even know what linking verbs are.
“Do we need to avoid linking verbs?” I asked my freshman English professor compulsively when she gave out the first assignment of the year.
“Linking verbs?” She shot back, an eyebrow dented in confusion.
I felt like the fool who walked into an auto shop asking for “blinker fluid.”
“Linking verbs?” one of the students quietly muttered.
“What’s that?” asked another.
“I’m not sure either,” chimed in a third.
From the moment I walked across that high school stage on graduation night, I never had to think about linking verb restrictions again. And now each time I write the word “is,” I think back to simpler times and wonder, really?
So I ask you, were you ever asked to avoid linking verbs in your English classes? Were they on “banned words” lists? Did you even have “banned words” lists?
Do you even know what linking verbs are? Was all of this just something I imagined— or is this some elaborate ruse that exists only inside my home town?
Key Message: Whatever the case, I’m just thankful to be able to use the word “I’m” again.
