Labile verb
A verb which can be either transitive or intransitive. English has many labile verbs. Examples are: sink, smoke, dress, wash, swim, jump etc.
- Susie smokes expensive cigarettes. (Transitive)
- Susie smokes. (Intransitive)
- The explosion sank the ship. (Transitive)
- The ship sank. (Intransitive)
- She washed her dress. (Transitive)
- This dress washes easily. (Intransitive)
Lexical item
The form of a word which is listed in a dictionary. For example, book is a lexical item, while books isn’t. In the same way, take is a lexical item, but its grammatical forms takes, taking, taken and took aren’t lexical items.
Lexical verb
Any verb which is not an auxiliary verb. Examples are: write, sing, dance, work, break, explain, smile, die etc.
Lexicon
The set of words in a language. To refer to the words known by a person, we use the word vocabulary.
Light verb
A verb which has no meaning of its own. A light verb helps to convert another word into a verbal form. The English verbs which can be used as light verbs include do, make, have, give and take.
- Make a mistake
- Do a dance
- Have a shower
- Give a cry
- Take a sip
Linking verb
A special verb which serves to connect two parts of a sentence. A linking verb expresses either that the two parts denote the same thing or that the first part has the property denoted by the second. An example of a linking verb is be.
The sentence James is my brother asserts that James and my brother are the same person.