He is running.
This sentence pattern is subject-verb, or subject-linking verb-subject structure?
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Are you asking if "running" is a subject complement, like in, "My sister is a teacher", where "a teacher" is the complement of "my sister"?– gotube ♦Commented Jan 10, 2022 at 5:56
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There is no linking verb, that's for sure. He runs everyday. He is running now.– LambieCommented Jan 10, 2022 at 18:14
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1@Lambie It would be a linking verb if you construed the present participle "running" as a predicate adjective. I realize that that interpretation isn't popular with modern grammars, but I think that that is what OP is wondering. (I think OP meant "subject-linking verb-subject complement", as gotube asked.)– MarcInManhattanCommented Jan 10, 2022 at 23:55
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1 Answer
He is running.
The choice of analysis depends on how detailed you want it to be.
In very simple terms, it consists of two constituents: the subject "he" and the predicate verb phrase "is running".
A more detailed (and advanced) analysis shows it to be subject-verb-subordinate clause, where the verb "running" forms a clause serving as complement of the main verb "is".
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"Running" isn't a subordinate clause - it's part of a multi-word verb construction, like the "run" in "he has run".– Stuart FCommented Jun 28, 2023 at 11:29
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@StuartF Nonsense! No one nowadays sensibly talks of 'verb groups'. In "He is running", the gerund-participle verb "running" is a non-finite clause functioning as complement of the catenative verb "is". The same applies to your example: "run" is a past-participial clause functioning as complement of the catenative verb "has".– BillJCommented Jun 28, 2023 at 12:32