• The word class of verbs has three main sub-classificiations: primary verbs, modal auxiliaries and full verbs. Full verbs can be classified as transitive, intransitive and copular.

• Copular verbs make up a small but important group. They appear — as the main verb of the verb element — only in two of the seven clause patterns: S V C and S V A. For example:

• Copular verbs are so-called because they express a “copular” relationship between the referent of the subject of a clause and the referent of its complement. Copular relationships are a relationships of identity — the subject and the complement refer to the same thing. They are explicitly indicated by copular verbs but can be implicitly indicated in other ways, for example by the structure of SVOC clauses which indicate identity between the referents of object and the complement.

• There are two main types of copular verb: “current” and “resulting.” The verb “be” is by far the most common current copular, and “become” is the most important resulting copular. Current copulas are stative in their normal use — i.e. they describe conditions or states that are regarded as permanent — or at least as extending over a unspecified period of time. Resulting copulas are dynamic (i.e. they are event verbs).

• Copular verbs can be followed (i.e. “complemented”) in three ways: by adjective phrases, by noun phrases, and by adjunct adverbials. Below are some examples of current and resulting copulas used with the three different types of complementation.