Verbs and Verb Phrases

Question

In the sentence, "The Statue of Liberty, which has become a major American landmark, may well be the best-known structure in the world."

what are the verbs and verb phrases?

i get:

"which has become", where become is the linking verb and "may well be", where be is the linking verb. i know the v.p. falls inbetween the subject and subject complement, however, i'm not sure why which is included other than absorbing it into the verb phrase.

also, in the fragment, "structure in the world" is "in" a linking verb?

are there any transtitive or intransitive verbs in the sentence above?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

anyone have any suggestions?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anon:

Here is the main clause in your sentence:

The Statue of Liberty may well be the best-known structure in the world.

Statue of Liberty (proper noun) is the subject
may be is the verb phrase. "be" is a linking verb (intransitive).

well is an adverb
the best-known structure in the world is the complement.
in the world is a prepositional phrase

The sentence contains a nonrestrictive adjective (subordinate) clause, which modifies the subject in the main clause (Statue of Liberty):

which has become a major American landmark

which is the relative pronoun and the subject of the verb
has become is the verb phrase in the clause. This is a linking verb and is intransitive.
a major American landmark is the predicate in the subordinate clause.

Verbs and Verb Phrases

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