Sentence Pattern Five: Subject–Linking Verb–Subject Complement
(S-LV-SC)
The last sentence pattern includes a subject plus a linking verb (is,
are, were, was, am, will be, being, been) plus the subject complement, which
can be a noun or an adjective. In the following examples, the subject
complement is used as a noun. The subject is in boldface, the linking verb is
underlined once, and the subject complement is underlined twice.
Example: Bobby Bowden was the Riverboat Gambler to
his fans.
Example: He was the one to develop unconventional football
tactics.
Example: Bowden’s other nickname was King of the Road.
Example: Bowden is an overall winner with the Seminoles, with
281 victories, 83 losses, and four ties as of 1993.
Adapted from: http://www.theledger.com/top50/pages/bowden.html.
In these examples, you can exchange the linking verb for an equal sign
because the subject and the subject complement mean the same thing. In the
first example, Bowden = Riverboat Gambler; in the second example, He =
