Основы теории английского языка. Листунова Е.И. - 107 стр.

                       The Nominal Predicate

      The nominal predicate denotes a certain state or quality of the
subject, it is a qualifying predicate:
      The spring was late that year (Greene). She was a brilliant and
original teacher... (Cronin).
      The nominal predicate is always compound in its structure, it
consists of a predicative and a link-verb. The significant part of the
compound predicate is the predicative expressed by a noun (or a noun
equivalent) or by an adjective. The predicative serves to characterize
the subject. The link-verb has no independent meaning, its function is
to connect the subject with the predicative and to express all the
grammatical categories of the finite verb. that is: person, number,
mood, aspect, tense and voice.
      When a verb is used as a link-verb, it loses its primary lexical
meaning and acquires the abstract meaning of being in a certain state
(He is a student), of passing into a new state (He became a teacher)
or of remaining in a certain state (He remained silent). Accordingly,
there are three kinds of compound nominal predicates: compound
nominal predicates of being, becoming, and remaining.
      Sometimes the link-verb has modal force, it shows the attitude
of the speaker to the predication:
      You seem tired (= it seems to me that you are tired) When he saw
me, he appeared surprised (= it seemed to me that he was surprised).
      In this case we speak of a fourth type of the compound predicate
— the compound nominal predicate of seeming or appearing.
      The most typical link-verb is the verb to be which is practically
devoid of meaning and only serves to connect the predicative with the
subject. All the other link-verbs are not entirely devoid of meaning.
      Compare the following:

     The milk was sour.           He was pale.
     The milk turned sour.        He looked pale.
     The milk tasted sour.        He became pale.
                                  He remained pale.
                                  He seemed pale
      In Russian the link-verb áûòü is not used as a rule in the pres-
ent, the predicative being connected with the subject by a zero-link
(íóëåâàÿ ñâÿçêà): Îí ñòóäåíò. Îíà ìîëîäà.

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