Editing Copula (linguistics)

{{Short description|Functional part of speech in most languages}}
{{About|grammar|other uses|Copula (disambiguation)}}
{{Cleanup lang|article|date=October 2020}} <!-- Everything other than Persdoian and Urdu is untagged -->

In [[linguistics]], a '''copula''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|p|j|ə|l|ə}}; {{plural form}}: '''copulas''' or '''copulae'''; [[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{smallcaps|'''cop'''}}) is a word or phrase that links the [[subject (grammar)|subject]] of a [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]] to a [[subject complement]], such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' in the sentence "It was not being cooperative." The word ''copula'' derives from the [[Latin]] noun for a "link" or "tie" that connects two different things.<ref>See [https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=copula copula] in the [[Online Etymology Dictionary]] for attestation of the use of the term, "copula", since the 1640s.</ref><ref>See the appendix to Moro 1997 and the references cited there for a short history of the copula.</ref>

A copula is often a [[verb]] or a verb-like word, though this is not universally the case.<ref name="Pustet">{{Cite book |last=Pustet |first=Regina |title=Copulas: Universals in the Categorization of the Lexicon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-LWcB_FcaIQC&q=Pustet,+Regina+(2005).+Copulas:+Universals+in+the+Categorization+of+the+Lexicon.&pg=PA54 |date=12 June 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-155530-5 |page=54|quote=Frajzyngier (1986) argues that copulas may also develop from prepositions}}</ref> A verb that is a copula is sometimes called a '''copulative''' or '''copular verb'''. In English [[primary education]] [[grammar]] courses, a copula is often called a [[linking verb]]. In other languages, copulas show more resemblances to [[pronoun]]s, as in [[Classical Chinese]] and [[Guarani language|Guarani]], or may take the form of [[suffix]]es attached to a noun, as in [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Beja language|Beja]], and [[Inuit languages]].

Most languages have one main copula (in English, the verb "to be"), although some (such as [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Thai language|Thai]]) have more than one, while others have [[Zero copula|none]]. While the term ''copula'' is generally used to refer to such principal verbs, it may also be used for a wider group of verbs with similar potential functions (such as ''become'', ''get'', ''feel'' and ''seem'' in English); alternatively, these might be distinguished as "semi-copulas" or "pseudo-copulas".

== Grammatical function ==
The principal use of a copula is to link the [[subject (grammar)|subject]] of a [[clause (grammar)|clause]] to a [[subject complement]]. A copular verb is often considered to be part of the [[predicate (grammar)|predicate]], the remainder being called a [[predicative expression]]. A simple clause containing a copula is illustrated below:

<blockquote>The book '''is''' on the table.</blockquote>

In that sentence, the [[noun phrase]] ''the book'' is the subject, the verb ''is'' serves as the copula, and the [[prepositional phrase]] ''on the table'' is the predicative expression. In some theories of grammar, the whole expression ''is on the table'' may be called a predicate or a [[verb phrase]].

The predicative expression accompanying the copula, also known as the [[complement (grammar)|complement]] of the copula, may take any of several possible forms: it may be a noun or noun phrase, an [[adjective]] or adjective phrase, a prepositional phrase (as above), or an adverb or another adverbial phrase expressing time or location. Examples are given below, with the copula in bold and the predicative expression in italics:

{{Poem quote|
Mary and John '''are''' ''my friends''.
The sky '''was''' ''blue''.
I '''am''' ''taller than most people''.
The birds and the beasts '''were''' ''there''.
}}

The three components (subject, copula and predicative expression) do not necessarily appear in that order: their positioning depends on the rules for [[word order]] applicable to the language in question. In English (an [[subject-verb-object|SVO]] language), the ordering given above is the normal one, but certain variation is possible:
*In many questions and other clauses with [[subject–auxiliary inversion]], the copula moves in front of the subject: '''''Are you''' happy?''
*In [[inverse copular constructions]] (see below) the predicative expression precedes the copula, but the subject follows it: ''In the room were three men.''

It is also possible, in certain circumstances, for one (or even two) of the three components to be absent:
*In [[null-subject language|null-subject]] (pro-drop) languages, the subject may be omitted, as it may from other types of sentence. In [[Italian language|Italian]], {{lang|it|sono stanco}} means {{gloss|I am tired}}, literally {{gloss|am tired}}.
*In [[non-finite clause]]s in languages such as English, the subject is often absent, as in the [[participial phrase]] ''being tired'' or the [[infinitive phrase]] ''to be tired''. The same applies to most imperative sentences such as ''Be good!''
*For cases in which no copula appears, see {{slink||Zero copula}} below.
*Any of the three components may be omitted as a result of various general types of [[ellipsis (grammar)|ellipsis]]. In particular, in English, the predicative expression may be elided in a construction similar to [[verb phrase ellipsis]], as in short sentences such as ''I am''; ''Are they?'' (where the predicative expression is understood from the previous context).

[[Inverse copular constructions]], in which the positions of the predicative expression and the subject are reversed, are found in various languages.<ref>See Everaert et al. 2006.</ref> They have been the subject of much theoretical analysis, particularly in regard to the difficulty of maintaining, in the case of such sentences, the usual division into a subject [[noun phrase]] and a predicate [[verb phrase]].

Another issue is [[agreement (linguistics)|verb agreement]] when both subject and predicative expression are noun phrases (and differ in number or person): in English, the copula typically agrees with the syntactical subject even if it is not logically (i.e. [[semantics|semantically]]) the subject, as in ''the cause of the riot '''is''''' (not ''are'') ''these pictures of the wall''. Compare Italian {{lang|it|la causa della rivolta '''sono''' queste foto del muro}}; notice the use of the plural {{lang|it|sono}} to agree with plural {{lang|it|queste foto}} {{gloss|these photos}} rather than with singular {{lang|it|la causa}} {{gloss|the cause}}. In instances where an English syntactical subject comprises a prepositional object that is pluralized, however, the prepositional object agrees with the predicative expression, e.g. "What kind ''of birds are'' those?"

The definition and scope of the concept of a copula is not necessarily precise in any language. As noted above, though the concept of the copula in English is most strongly associated with the verb ''to be'', there are many other verbs that can be used in a copular sense as well.<ref name="Givon">{{Cite book | title=English Grammar: A function-based introduction | volume=1 | author=Givón, T. | publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company | year=1993 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWZM1bFFMSkC | pages=103–104| isbn=9027273898 }}</ref><ref name="EG">{{Cite web | title=What are copular verbs? | url=https://www.englishgrammar.org/copular-verbs/ | date=November 15, 2010 | access-date=October 31, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107014423/https://www.englishgrammar.org/copular-verbs/ | archive-date=November 7, 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The boy '''became''' a man.
* The girl '''grew''' more excited as the holiday preparations intensified.
* The dog '''felt''' tired from the activity.

And more tenuously<ref name="Givon" /><ref name="EG" />
* The milk '''turned''' sour.
* The food '''smells''' good.
* You '''seem''' upset.

=== Other functions ===
A copular verb may also have other uses supplementary to or distinct from its uses as a copula. Some co-occurrences are common.

==== Auxiliary verb ====
The English verb ''[[wikt:be#Verb|to be]]'' is also used as an [[English auxiliaries|auxiliary verb]], especially for expressing [[passive voice]] (together with the [[past participle]]) or expressing [[progressive aspect]] (together with the [[present participle]]):

{{Poem quote|
The man '''was''' killed. (passive)
It '''is''' raining. (progressive)
}}

Other languages' copulas have additional uses as auxiliaries. For example, French {{lang|fr|être}} can be used to express passive voice similarly to English ''be''; both French {{lang|fr|être}} and German {{lang|de|sein}} are used to express the [[Perfect (grammar)|perfect forms]] of certain verbs:

{{Poem quote|{{lang|fr|Je '''suis''' allé(e)}} French for {{gloss|I went}} and {{gloss|I have gone}}, literally {{gloss|I am gone}}, but does not imply still being gone.}}

In the same way, usage of English ''be'' in the present perfect, though archaic, is still commonly seen in old texts/translations:

{{Poem quote|
I '''am''' become death.
He '''is''' risen.
}}

The auxiliary functions of these verbs derived from their copular function, and could be interpreted as special cases of the copular function (with the verbal forms it precedes being considered adjectival).<!-- This sentence needs revision in order to be readily comprehended. -->

Another auxiliary usage in English is to denote an obligatory action or expected occurrence: "I am to serve you". "The manager is to resign". This can be put also into past tense: "We were to leave at 9". For forms such as "if I was/were to come", see [[English conditional sentences]]. (By certain criteria, the English copula ''be'' may always be considered an auxiliary verb; see [[Auxiliary verb#Diagnostics for identifying auxiliary verbs in English|Diagnostics for identifying auxiliary verbs in English]].)

==== Existential verb ====
The English ''to be'' and its equivalents in certain other languages also have a non-copular use as an existential verb, meaning "to exist". This use is illustrated in the following sentences: ''I want only '''to be''', and that is enough''; ''[[Cogito ergo sum|I think therefore I '''am''']]''; ''[[To be, or not to be|'''To be''' or not '''to be''']], that is the question.'' In these cases, the verb itself expresses a predicate (that of [[existence]]), rather than linking to a predicative expression as it does when used as a copula. In [[ontology]] it is sometimes suggested that the "is" of existence is reducible to the "is" of property attribution or class membership; to be, [[Aristotle]] held, is to be ''something''. However, [[Abelard]] in his ''Dialectica'' made a ''[[reductio ad absurdum]]'' argument against the idea that the copula can express existence.<ref>Kneale – Kneale 1962 and Moro 1997</ref>

Similar examples can be found in many other languages; for example, the French and Latin equivalents of ''I think therefore I am'' are {{lang|fr|Je pense, donc je '''suis'''}} and {{lang|la|Cogito ergo '''sum'''}}, where {{lang|fr|suis}} and {{lang|la|sum}} are the equivalents of English "am", normally used as copulas. However, other languages prefer a different verb for existential use, as in the Spanish version {{lang|es|Pienso, luego '''existo'''}} (where the verb {{lang|es|existir}} {{gloss|to exist}} is used rather than the copula {{lang|es|ser}} or {{lang|es|estar}} {{gloss|to be}}).

Another type of existential usage is in clauses of the ''[[there is]]...'' or ''there are...'' type. Languages differ in the way they express such meanings; some of them use the copular verb, possibly with an [[expletive pronoun]] such as the English ''there'', while other languages use different verbs and constructions, such as the French {{lang|fr|il y a}} (which uses parts of the verb {{lang|fr|avoir}} {{gloss|to have}}, not the copula) or the Swedish {{lang|sv|finns}} (the passive voice of the verb for "to find"). For details, see [[existential clause]].

Relying on a unified theory of copular sentences, it has been proposed that the English ''there''-sentences are subtypes of [[inverse copular construction]]s.<ref>See Moro 1997, and "existential sentences and expletive ''there''" in Everaert et al. 2006, for a detailed discussion of this issue and a historical survey of the major proposals.</ref>

== Meanings ==
Predicates formed using a copula may express identity: that the two noun phrases (subject and complement) have the same [[referent]] or express an identical concept:

{{Poem quote|
I want only ''to be'' myself.
The Morning Star ''is'' the Evening Star.
}}

They may also express membership of a class or a [[subset]] relationship:

{{Poem quote|
She ''was'' a nurse.
Cats ''are'' carnivorous mammals.
}}

Similarly they may express some property, relation or position, permanent or temporary:

{{Poem quote|
The trees ''are'' green.
I ''am'' your boss.
The hen ''is'' next to the cockerel.
The children ''are'' confused.
}}

=== Essence versus state ===
Some languages use different copulas, or different syntax, to denote a permanent, essential characteristic of something versus a temporary state. For examples, see the sections on the [[#Romance|Romance languages]], [[#Slavic|Slavic languages]] and [[#Irish|Irish]].

== Forms ==
In many languages the principal copula is a [[verb]], such as English ''(to) be'', German {{lang|de|sein}}, [[Mixtec language|Mixtec]] {{lang|mib|kuu}},<ref name="Pustet2003Mixtec">{{Cite book|author=Regina Pustet|title=Copulas: Universals in the Categorization of the Lexicon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-LWcB_FcaIQC&q=mixtec+kuu|date=12 June 2003|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-155530-5|page=47}}</ref> [[Tuareg languages|Touareg]] ''emous'',<ref name="Stassen" /> etc. It may inflect for [[grammatical category|grammatical categories]] such as [[grammatical tense|tense]], [[grammatical aspect|aspect]] and [[grammatical mood|mood]], like other verbs in the language. Being a very commonly used verb, it is likely that the copula has [[irregular verb|irregular]] inflected forms; in English, the verb ''be'' has a number of highly irregular ([[suppletion|suppletive]]) forms and has more different inflected forms than any other English verb (''am'', ''is'', ''are'', ''was'', ''were'', etc.; see [[English verbs]] for details).

Other copulas show more resemblances to [[pronoun]]s. That is the case for [[Classical Chinese]] and [[Guarani language|Guarani]], for instance. In highly [[synthetic language]]s, copulas are often [[suffix]]es, attached to a noun, but they may still behave otherwise like ordinary verbs: {{lang|iu|-u-}} in [[Inuit languages]].

In some other languages, such as [[Beja language|Beja]] and [[Ket language|Ket]], the copula takes the form of suffixes that attach to a noun but are distinct from the [[grammatical conjugation|person agreement markers]] used on [[predicative verb]]s.<ref name="Stassen">{{Cite book |last=Stassen |first=Leon |year=1997 |title=Intransitive Predication |series=Oxford studies in typology and linguistic theory |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=39 |isbn=978-0-19-925893-2}}</ref> This phenomenon is known as ''[[nonverbal person agreement]]'' (or ''nonverbal subject agreement''), and the relevant markers are always established as deriving from [[clitic]]ized independent pronouns.

=== Zero copula ===
{{Main|Zero copula}}
In some languages, copula omission occurs within a particular grammatical context. For example, speakers of [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Geʽez]] and [[Quechuan languages]] consistently drop the copula in present tense: Bengali: {{lang|bn|আমি মানুষ}}, Aami manush, 'I (am a) human'; Russian: {{lang|ru|я человек}}, {{transliteration|ru|ya chelovek}} {{gloss|I (am a) human}}; Indonesian: {{lang|id|saya seorang manusia}} {{gloss|I (am) a human}}; Turkish: {{lang|tr|o insan}} {{gloss|s/he (is a) human}}; Hungarian: {{lang|hu|ő ember}} {{gloss|s/he (is) a human}}; Arabic: {{lang|ar|أنا إنسان}}, {{transliteration|ar|ʾana ʾinsān}} {{gloss|I (am a) human}}; Hebrew: {{lang|he|אני אדם}}, {{transliteration|he|ʔani ʔadam}} {{gloss|I (am a) human}}; Geʽez: {{lang|gez|አነ ብእሲ/ብእሲ አነ}}, {{transliteration|gez|ʔana bəʔəsi}} / {{transliteration|gez|bəʔəsi ʔana}} {{gloss|I (am a) man}} / {{gloss|(a) man I (am)}}; [[Southern Quechua]]: {{lang|qu|payqa runam}} {{gloss|s/he (is) a human}}. The usage is known generically as the zero copula. In other tenses (sometimes in forms other than third person singular), the copula usually reappears.

Some languages drop the copula in poetic or [[aphorism|aphoristic]] contexts. Examples in English include
* ''The more, the merrier.''
* ''Out of many, one.''
* ''True that.''
Such poetic copula dropping is more pronounced in some languages other than English, such as the [[Romance language]]s.

In informal speech of English, the copula may also be dropped in general sentences, as in "She a nurse" or "They not like us." It is a feature of [[African-American Vernacular English]], but is also used by a variety of other English speakers. An example is the sentence "I saw twelve men, each a soldier."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bender |first=Emily |year=2001 |title=Syntactic Variation and Linguistic Competence: The Case of AAVE Copula Absence |type=Ph.D. Dissertation |publisher=Stanford University |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/ebender/dissertation/bender_thesis.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://faculty.washington.edu/ebender/dissertation/bender_thesis.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}{{page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref>

==== Examples in specific languages ====
In Ancient Greek, when an adjective precedes a noun with an article, the copula is understood: {{lang|grc|ὁ οἴκος ἐστὶ μακρός}}, "the house is large", can be written {{lang|grc|μακρός ὁ οἴκος}}, "large the house (is)."{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In Quechua ([[Southern Quechua]] used for the examples), zero copula is restricted to present tense in third person singular ({{lang|qu|kan}}): {{lang|qu|Payqa runam}} {{gloss|(s)he is a human}}; but: {{lang|qu|(paykuna) runakunam kanku}} {{gloss|(they) are human}}.{{Citation needed|reason=English, Hungarian, and Irish are treated at 'Zero copula'. There are no references for Greek or Quechua here or on that page.|date=February 2014}}

In [[Māori language|Māori]], the zero copula can be used in [[predicative expression]]s and with continuous verbs (many of which take a copulative verb in many Indo-European languages)&nbsp;— {{lang|mi|He nui te whare}}, literally {{gloss|a big the house}}, {{gloss|the house (is) big}}; {{lang|mi|I te tēpu te pukapuka}}, literally {{gloss|at (past [[locative]] particle) the table the book}}, {{gloss|the book (was) on the table}}; {{lang|mi|Nō Ingarangi ia}}, literally {{gloss|from England (s)he}}, {{gloss|(s)he (is) from England}}, {{lang|mi|Kei te kai au}}, literally {{gloss|at the (act of) eating I}}, {{gloss|I (am) eating}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_mao |title=Language Maori |publisher=WALS Online |access-date=2014-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306092639/http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_mao |archive-date=2014-03-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Moorfield | first = John | year = 2004 | title = Te Kākano | publisher = University of Waikato}}</ref>

Alternatively, in many cases, the particle {{lang|mi|ko}} can be used as a copulative (though not all instances of {{lang|mi|ko}} are used as thus, like all other Māori particles, {{lang|mi|ko}} has multiple purposes): {{lang|mi|Ko nui te whare}} {{gloss|The house is big}}; {{lang|mi|Ko te pukapuka kei te tēpu}} {{gloss|It is the book (that is) on the table}}; {{lang|mi|Ko au kei te kai}} {{gloss|It is me eating}}.

However, when expressing identity or class membership, {{lang|mi|ko}} must be used: {{lang|mi|Ko tēnei tāku pukapuka}} {{gloss|This is my book}}; {{lang|mi|Ko Ōtautahi he tāone i Te Waipounamu}} {{gloss|Christchurch is a city in the South Island (of New Zealand)}}; {{lang|mi|Ko koe tōku hoa}} {{gloss|You are my friend}}.

When expressing identity, {{lang|mi|ko}} can be placed on either object in the clause without changing the meaning ({{lang|mi|ko tēnei tāku pukapuka}} is the same as {{lang|mi|ko tāku pukapuka tēnei}}) but not on both ({{lang|mi|ko tēnei ko tāku pukapuka}} would be equivalent to saying "it is this, it is my book" in English).
<ref>{{Citation | last = Barlow | first = D. Cleve | year = 1981 | title = The Meaning of Ko in New Zealand Maori | journal = Pacific Studies | volume = 4 | pages = 124–141 | url = https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9191/8840 | access-date = February 7, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140221165723/https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9191/8840 | archive-date = February 21, 2014 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In Hungarian, zero copula is restricted to present tense in third person singular and plural: {{lang|hu|Ő ember}}/{{lang|hu|Ők emberek}}&nbsp;— {{gloss|s/he is a human}} / {{gloss|they are humans}}; but: {{lang|hu|(én) ember vagyok}} {{gloss|I am a human}}, {{lang|hu|(te) ember vagy}} {{gloss|you are a human}}, {{lang|hu|mi emberek vagyunk}} {{gloss|we are humans}}, {{lang|hu|(ti) emberek vagytok}} {{gloss|you (all) are humans}}. The copula also reappears for stating locations: {{lang|hu|az emberek a házban vannak}} {{gloss|the people are in the house}}, and for stating time: {{lang|hu|hat óra van}} {{gloss|it is six o'clock}}. However, the copula may be omitted in colloquial language: {{lang|hu|hat óra (van)}} {{gloss|it is six o'clock}}.

Hungarian uses copula {{lang|hu|lenni}} for expressing location: {{lang|hu|Itt van Róbert}} {{gloss|Bob is here}}, but it is omitted in the third person present tense for attribution or identity statements: {{lang|hu|Róbert öreg}} {{gloss|Bob is old}}; {{lang|hu|ők éhesek}} {{gloss|they are hungry}}; {{lang|hu|Kati nyelvtudós}} {{gloss|Cathy is a linguist}} (but {{lang|hu|Róbert öreg volt}} {{gloss|Bob was old}}, {{lang|hu|éhesek voltak}} {{gloss|they were hungry}}, {{lang|hu|Kati nyelvtudós volt}} {{gloss|Cathy was a linguist}}).

In Turkish, both the third person singular and the third person plural copulas are omittable. {{lang|tr|Ali burada}} and {{lang|tr|Ali burada'''dır'''}} both mean {{gloss|Ali is here}}, and {{lang|tr|Onlar aç}} and {{lang|tr|Onlar aç'''lar'''}} both mean {{gloss|They are hungry}}. Both of the sentences are acceptable and grammatically correct, but sentences with the copula are more formal.

The Turkish first person singular copula suffix is omitted when introducing oneself. {{lang|tr|Bora ben}} {{gloss|I am Bora}} is grammatically correct, but {{lang|tr|Bora ben'''im'''}} (same sentence with the copula) is not for an introduction (but is grammatically correct in other cases).

Further restrictions may apply before omission is permitted. For example, in the [[Irish language]], {{lang|ga|is}}, the present tense of the copula, may be omitted when the [[predicate (grammar)|predicate]] is a noun. {{lang|ga|Ba}}, the past/conditional, cannot be deleted. If the present copula is omitted, the pronoun (e.g., {{lang|ga|é}}, {{lang|ga|í}}, {{lang|ga|iad}}) preceding the noun is omitted as well.

== Copula-like words ==
Sometimes, the term ''copula'' is taken to include not only a language's equivalent(s) to the verb ''be'' but also other verbs or forms that serve to link a subject to a predicative expression (while adding [[semantic]] content of their own). For example, English verbs such as ''become'', ''get'', ''feel'', ''look'', ''taste'', ''smell'', and ''seem'' can have this function, as in the following sentences (the predicative expression, the complement of the verb, is in italics):

{{Poem quote|
She became ''a student''.
They look ''tired''.
The milk tastes ''bad''.
That bread smells ''good''.
I feel ''bad'' that she can't come with us.
London stands (is) ''on the river Thames.''
How is Mary? ; She seems (is) ''well (fine)''.
}}

(This usage should be distinguished from the use of some of these verbs as "action" verbs, as in ''They look at the wall'', in which ''look'' denotes an action and cannot be replaced by the basic copula ''are''.)

Some verbs have rarer, secondary uses as copular verbs, such as the verb ''fall'' in sentences such as ''The zebra fell victim to the lion.''

These extra copulas are sometimes called "semi-copulas" or "pseudo-copulas."<ref>{{Cite book |first=C.S. |last=Butler |title=Structure and Function: A Guide to the Three Major Structural-Functional Theories |series=Studies in Language Companion Series |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |year=2003 |volume=63 |pages=425–6 |doi=10.1075/slcs.63 |isbn=9789027296535}}</ref> For a list of common verbs of this type in English, see [[List of English copulae]].

== In particular languages ==
=== Indo-European ===
{{Main|Indo-European copula}}

In [[Indo-European language]]s, the words meaning ''to be'' are sometimes similar to each other. Due to the high frequency of their use, their inflection retains a considerable degree of similarity in some cases. Thus, for example, the English form ''is'' is a [[cognate]] of German {{lang|de|ist}}, Latin {{lang|la|est}}, Persian {{transliteration|fa|ast}} and Russian {{transliteration|ru|jest'}}, even though the Germanic, Italic, Iranian and Slavic language groups split at least 3000 years ago. The origins of the copulas of most Indo-European languages can be traced back to four [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] stems: {{lang|ine-x-proto|*es-}} ({{lang|ine-x-proto|*h<sub>1</sub>es-}}), {{lang|ine-x-proto|*sta-}} ({{lang|ine-x-proto|*steh<sub>2</sub>-}}), {{lang|ine-x-proto|*wes-}} and {{lang|ine-x-proto|*bhu-}} ({{lang|ine-x-proto|*bʰuH-}}).

==== English ====
The English copular verb ''be'' has eight basic forms (''be'', ''am'', ''is'', ''are'', ''being'', ''was'', ''were'', ''been'') and five negative forms (''ain't'' (in some dialects), ''isn't'', ''aren't'', ''wasn't'', ''weren't'').<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey K. |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2002 |location=Cambridge |pages=75, 91, 113–114}}</ref> No other English verb has more than five forms. Additional archaic forms include ''art'', ''wast'', ''wert'', and occasionally ''beest'' (as a [[English subjunctive|subjunctive]]). For more details see [[English verbs]]. For the etymology of the various forms, see [[Indo-European copula]].

The main uses of the copula in English are described in the above sections. The possibility of copula omission is mentioned under {{slink||Zero copula}}.

A particular construction found in English (particularly in speech) is the use of [[double is|two successive copulas]] when only one appears necessary, as in ''My point is, is that...''.<ref>{{Cite conference |url=http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/bls/previous_proceedings/bls32.pdf |title="The thing is, is" Is No Mere Disfluency |last1=Coppock |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Brenier |first2=Jason |last3=Staum |first3=Laura |last4=Michaelis |first4=Laura |date=February 10, 2006 |publisher=Sheridan Books |book-title=Proceedings of the Thirty-Second Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society |pages=85–96 |location=Berkeley, California |conference=32nd Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society |access-date=July 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717041608/http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/bls/previous_proceedings/bls32.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The acceptability of this construction is a [[English usage controversies|disputed matter in English prescriptive grammar]].

The simple English copula "be" may on occasion be substituted by other verbs with near identical meanings.

==== Persian ====
In Persian, the verb ''to be'' can take the form of either {{transliteration|fa|ast}} (cognate to English ''is'') or {{transliteration|fa|budan}} (cognate to ''be'').

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
|-
| {{transliteration|fa|Aseman abi <u>ast</u>.}}
| {{lang|fa|آسمان آبی '''است'''}}
| {{gloss|The sky <u>is</u> blue.}}
|-
| {{transliteration|fa|Aseman abi <u>khahad bood</u>.}}
| {{lang|fa|آسمان آبی '''خواهد بود'''}}
| {{gloss|The sky <u>will be</u> blue.}}
|-
| {{transliteration|fa|Aseman abi <u>bood</u>.}}
| {{lang|fa|آسمان آبی '''بود'''}}
| {{gloss|The sky <u>was</u> blue.}}

|}

==== Hindustani ====
In [[Hindustani grammar|Hindustani]] ([[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]]), the copula {{lang|hi|होना}} {{transliteration|hi|honā}} {{lang|ur|{{nq|ہونا}}}} can be put into four grammatical aspects (simple, habitual, perfective, and progressive) and each of those four aspects can be put into five grammatical moods (indicative, presumptive, subjunctive, contrafactual, and imperative).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=VAN OLPHEN|first=HERMAN|title=Aspect, Tense, and Mood in the Hindi Verb|date=1975|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24651488|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|volume=16|issue=4|pages=284–301|doi=10.1163/000000075791615397|jstor=24651488|s2cid=161530848 |issn=0019-7246}}</ref> Some example sentences using the simple aspect are shown below:

{| {{table}}
!colspan=2|
! align="right" | Hindi
! Urdu
! align="left" | Transliteration
! align="left" | English
|-
!rowspan=4| Simple Indicative
! Present
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला है।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا ہے}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīla <u>hai</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>is</u> blue.}}
|-
! Perfect
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला हुआ।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا ہوا}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīla <u>huā</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>became</u> blue.}}
|-
! Imperfect
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला था।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا تھا}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīla <u>thā</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>was</u> blue.}}
|-
! Future
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला होएगा।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا ہوگا}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīla <u>hoegā</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>will be</u> blue.}}
|-
!rowspan=2| Simple Subjunctive
! Present
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला हो।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا ہو}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīla <u>ho</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>be</u> blue.}}
|-
! Future
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला होए।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا ہوے}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīla <u>hoe</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>becomes</u> blue.}}
|-
!colspan=2| Simple Presumptive Present
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला होगा।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا ہوگا}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīlā <u>hogā</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>might be</u> blue.}}
|-
!colspan=2| Simple Contrafactual Past
| {{lang|hi|आसमान नीला होता।}}
| {{lang|ur|{{nq|آسمان نیلا ہوتا}}}}
| {{transliteration|hi|āsmān nīla <u>hotā</u>.}}
| {{gloss|the sky <u>would have been</u> blue.}}
|}

Besides the verb {{lang|hi|होना}} {{transliteration|hi|honā}} {{lang|ur|{{nq|ہونا}}}} {{gloss|to be}}, there are three other verbs which can also be used as the copula: {{lang|hi|रहना}} {{transliteration|hi|rêhnā}} {{lang|ur|{{nq|رہنا}}}} {{gloss|to stay}}, {{lang|hi|जाना}} {{transliteration|hi|jānā}} {{lang|ur|{{nq|جانا}}}} {{gloss|to go}}, and {{lang|hi|आना}} {{transliteration|hi|ānā}} {{lang|ur|{{nq|آنا}}}} {{gloss|to come}}.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Shapiro|first=Michael C.|title=A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1989|isbn=81-208-0475-9|location=New Delhi|pages=216–246}}</ref> The following table shows the conjugations of the copula {{lang|hi|होना}} {{transliteration|hi|honā}} {{lang|ur|{{nq|ہونا}}}} in the five grammatical moods in the simple aspect. The transliteration scheme used is [[ISO 15919]].
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| colspan="7" |'''Hindustani Copula {{Nobold|{{lang|hi|होना}} {{lang|ur|{{nq|ہونا}}}}}} {{gloss|to be}} [Simple Aspect]'''
|-
! rowspan="2" |'''Mood'''
! rowspan="2" |'''Tense'''
! rowspan="2" |'''Gender'''
! colspan="4" |Pronouns
|-
! align="right" | {{tooltip|''ma͠i''|I}}
! align="left" | {{tooltip|''tū''|you (intimate)}}
!{{tooltip|''tum''|you (familiar)}}
!{{tooltip|''āp''|you (formal)}}, {{tooltip|''ham''|we}}
|-
! rowspan="7" |'''Indicative'''
! '''Present'''
!♂ ♀
| {{tooltip|''hū̃''|"I am"}}
| {{tooltip|''hai''|"you (intimate) are"; "he/she/it is"}}
| {{tooltip|''ho''|"you (familiar) are"}}
| {{tooltip|''ha͠i''|"you (formal) are"; "they are"; "we are"}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | '''Perfect'''
!♂
| colspan="2" | {{tooltip|''huā''|"became" (masc. sing.)}}
| colspan="2" | {{tooltip|''hue''|"became" (masc. plu.)}}
|-
!♀
| colspan="3" | {{tooltip|''huī''|"became" (fem. sing.)}}
| {{tooltip|''huī̃''|"became" (fem. plu.)}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | '''Imperfect'''
!♂
| colspan="2" | {{tooltip|''thā''|"was/were" (masc. sing.)}}
| colspan="2" | {{tooltip|''the''|"was/were" (masc. plu.)}}
|-
!♀
| colspan="3" | {{tooltip|''thī''|"was/were" (fem. sing.)}}
| {{tooltip|''thī̃''|"was/were" (fem. plu.)}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |'''Future'''
!♂
|hoū̃gā
|''hoegā''
|''hooge''
|''hoẽge''
|-
!♀
|''hoū̃gī''
|''hoegī''
|''hoogī''
|''hoẽgī''
|-
! rowspan="2" |'''Presumptive'''
! rowspan="2" |All
!♂
|''hū̃gā''
|''hogā''
|''hoge''
|''hõge''
|-
!♀
|''hū̃gī''
|''hogī''
|''hogī''
|''hõgī''
|-
! rowspan="2" |'''Subjunctive'''
!'''Present'''
!♂ ♀
| {{tooltip|''hū̃''|"[that] I be"}}
| colspan="2" | {{tooltip|''ho''|"[that] you (intimate/familiar) be"}}
| {{tooltip|''hõ''|"[that] we/they/you (formal) be"}}
|-
!'''Future'''
!♂ ♀
| {{tooltip|''hoū̃''|"[that] I become"}}
| {{tooltip|''hoe''|"[that] you (intimate)/she/he/it become"}}
| {{tooltip|''hoo''|"[that] you (familiar) become"}}
| {{tooltip|''hoẽ''|"[that] we/they/you (formal) become"}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |'''Contrafactual'''
! rowspan="2" |'''Past'''
!♂
| colspan="2" | {{tooltip|''hotā''|"would have been", "had [you] been" (masc. sing.)}}
| colspan="2" | {{tooltip|''hote''|"would have been", "had [you] been" (masc. plu.)}}
|-
!♀
| colspan="3" | {{tooltip|''hotī''|"would have been", "had [you] been" (fem. sing.)}}
| {{tooltip|''hotī̃''|"would have been", "had [you] been" (fem. plu.)}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |'''Imperative'''
!'''Present'''
!♂ ♀
|''—''
| {{tooltip|''ho''|"beǃ"}}
| {{tooltip|''hoo''|"beǃ"}}
| {{tooltip|''hoiye''|"beǃ"}}
|-
!'''Future'''
!♂ ♀
|''—''
| {{tooltip|''hoiyo''|"beǃ (later)"}}
| {{tooltip|''honā''|"beǃ (later)"}}
| {{tooltip|''hoiyegā''|"beǃ (later)"}}
|-
| colspan="7" |'''Note:''' ''the third person singular and plural conjugations are respectively''
''the same as the second person intimate and formal conjugations.''
|}

==== Romance ====
{{Main|Romance copula}}
Copulas in the [[Romance languages]] usually consist of two different verbs that can be translated as "to be", the main one from the Latin {{lang|la|esse}} (via [[Vulgar Latin]] {{lang|la|essere}}; {{lang|la|esse}} deriving from ''*es-''), often referenced as {{lang|la|sum}} (another of the Latin verb's [[principal parts]]) and a secondary one from {{lang|la|stare}} (from ''*sta-''), often referenced as {{lang|la|stō}}. The resulting distinction in the modern forms is found in all the [[Iberian Romance languages]], and to a lesser extent Italian, but not in French or Romanian. The difference is that the first usually refers to essential characteristics, while the second refers to states and situations, e.g., "Bob is old" versus "Bob is well." A similar division is found in the non-Romance [[Basque language]] (viz. {{lang|eu|egon}} and {{lang|eu|izan}}). (The English words just used, "essential" and "state", are also cognate with the Latin infinitives {{lang|la|esse}} and {{lang|la|stare}}. The word "stay" also comes from Latin {{lang|la|stare}}, through Middle French {{lang|fr|estai}}, stem of Old French {{lang|fr|ester}}.) In Spanish and Portuguese, the high degree of verbal [[inflection]], plus the existence of two copulas ({{lang|es|ser}} and {{lang|es|estar}}), means that there are 105 (Spanish) and 110 (Portuguese)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.conjuga-me.net |title=Conjugação de verbos regulares e irregulares |publisher=Conjuga-me |date=2007-09-06 |access-date=2014-02-07}}</ref> separate forms to express the copula, compared to eight in English and one in Chinese.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | Copula
! colspan=4 | Language
|-
! Italian
! Spanish
! Portuguese
! English
|- align=left
! align=left | {{lang|la|Sum}}-derived
| {{lang|it|Bob {{noitalic|è}} vecchio.}} || {{lang|es|Bob {{noitalic|es}} viejo.}} || {{lang|pt|Bob {{noitalic|é}} velho.}} || {{gloss|Bob is old.}}
|- align=left
! align=left | {{lang|la|Sto}}-derived
| {{lang|it|Bob {{noitalic|sta}} bene.}} || {{lang|es|Bob {{noitalic|está}} bien.}} || {{lang|pt|Bob {{noitalic|está}} bem}} || {{gloss|Bob is well.}}
|}

In some cases, the verb itself changes the meaning of the adjective/sentence. The following examples are from Portuguese:

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | Copula
! colspan="3" | Example 1
! colspan="3" | Example 2
|-
! Portuguese
! Spanish
! English
! Portuguese
! Spanish
! English
|- align=left
! align=left | {{lang|la|Sum}}-derived
| {{lang|pt|Bob {{noitalic|é}} esquisito.}}
| {{lang|es|Bob {{noitalic|es}} extraño.}} || {{gloss|Bob is weird.}} || {{lang|pt|Bob {{noitalic|é}} parvo.}}
| {{lang|es|Bob {{noitalic|es}} idiota.}} || {{gloss|Bob is foolish.}}
|- align=left
! align=left | {{lang|la|Sto}}-derived
| {{lang|pt|Bob {{noitalic|está}} esquisito.}}
| {{lang|es|Bob {{noitalic|está}} extraño.}} || {{gloss|Bob is looking/being strange.}} || {{lang|pt|Bob {{noitalic|está}} parvo.}}
| {{lang|es|Bob {{noitalic|está}} idiota.}} || {{gloss|Bob is acting/being silly.}}
|}

==== Slavic ====
Some [[Slavic language]]s make a distinction between essence and state (similar to that discussed in the above section on the [[#Romance|Romance]] languages), by putting a predicative expression denoting a state into the [[instrumental case]], and essential characteristics are in the [[nominative case|nominative]]. This can apply with other copula verbs as well: the verbs for "become" are normally used with the instrumental case.

As noted above under {{slink||Zero copula}}, Russian and other [[North Slavic languages]] generally or often omit the copula in the present tense.

==== Irish ====
In [[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Scottish Gaelic]], there are two copulas, and the [[syntax]] is also changed when one is distinguishing between states or situations and essential characteristics.

Describing the subject's state or situation typically uses the normal [[verb–subject–object|VSO ordering]] with the verb {{lang|ga|bí}}. The copula {{lang|ga|is}} is used to state essential characteristics or equivalences.

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1" valign="top"
| align=left valign=top|  || align=right valign=top |  || align=left valign=top |
|-
| {{lang|ga|{{noitalic|Is}} fear é Liam.}} || {{gloss|Liam is a man.}} || (lit. {{gloss|Is man Liam.}})
|-
| {{lang|ga|{{noitalic|Is}} leabhar é sin.}} || {{gloss|That is a book.}} || (lit. {{gloss|Is book it that.}})
|}

The word {{lang|ga|is}} is the copula (rhymes with the English word "miss").

The pronoun used with the copula is different from the normal pronoun. For a masculine singular noun, {{lang|ga|é}} is used (for "he" or "it"), as opposed to the normal pronoun {{lang|ga|sé}}; for a feminine singular noun, {{lang|ga|í}} is used (for "she" or "it"), as opposed to normal pronoun {{lang|ga|sí}}; for plural nouns, {{lang|ga|iad}} is used (for "they" or "those"), as opposed to the normal pronoun {{lang|ga|siad}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dillon|first1=Myles|author-link1=Myles Dillon|last2=Ó Cróinín|first2=Donncha|author-link2=Donncha Ó Cróinín|date=1961|title=Teach Yourself Irish|url=https://archive.org/details/TeachYourselfIrish|location=London|publisher=English Universities Press|page=52}}</ref>

To describe being in a state, condition, place, or act, the verb "to be" is used: {{lang|ga|Tá mé ag rith.}} {{gloss|I am running.}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.teanglann.ie/ga/fgb/rith|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): rith|website=www.teanglann.ie}}</ref>

=== Arabic dialects ===
==== North Levantine Arabic ====
The [[North Levantine Arabic]] dialect, spoken in Syria and Lebanon, has a negative copula formed by {{wikt-lang|apc|ما}} {{transliteration|apc|mā / ma}} and a suffixed pronoun.<ref name="Brustad-Negation">{{Cite book |last1=Brustad |first1=Kristen |last2=Zuniga |first2=Emilie |date=6 March 2019 |editor1-last=Huehnergard |editor1-first=John |editor-link1=John Huehnergard| editor2-last=Pat-El |editor2-first=Na‘ama |title=The Semitic languages |publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group | publication-place=London & New York |pages=424–5 |chapter=Chapter 16: Levantine Arabic |isbn=978-0-429-02556-3 |edition=2nd |doi=10.4324/9780429025563|s2cid=166512720 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan="4" | Negative copula in Levantine<ref name="Brustad-Negation" />
|-
! colspan="2" |
! Singular
! Plural
|-
! colspan="2" | 1st person (m/f)
| {{wikt-lang|apc|ماني}} {{transliteration|apc|māni}}
| {{wikt-lang|apc|مانا}} {{transliteration|apc|māna}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | 2nd person
! m
| {{wikt-lang|apc|مانَك}} {{transliteration|apc|mānak}}
| rowspan="2" | {{wikt-lang|apc|مانكُن}} {{transliteration|apc|mānkon}}
|-
! f
| {{wikt-lang|apc|مانِك}} {{transliteration|apc|mānek}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | 3rd person
! m
| {{wikt-lang|apc|مانو}} {{transliteration|apc|māno}}
| rowspan="2" | {{wikt-lang|apc|مانلُن}} {{transliteration|apc|mānon}}
|-
! f
| {{wikt-lang|apc|مانا}} {{transliteration|apc|māna}}
|}

=== Bantu languages ===
==== Chichewa ====
{{Main|Chichewa tenses}}
In [[Chewa language|Chichewa]], a [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] language spoken mainly in [[Malawi]], a very similar distinction exists between permanent and temporary states as in Spanish and Portuguese, but only in the present tense. For a permanent state, in the 3rd person, the copula used in the present tense is {{lang|ny|ndi}} (negative {{lang|ny|sí}}):<ref>Maxson, Nathaniel (2011). ''Chicheŵa for English Speakers: A New and Simplified Approach''. Assemblies of God Literature Press, Malawi, pp. 107, 108, 110.</ref><ref>*[[Earl Stevick|Stevick, Earl]] et al. (1965). [https://web.archive.org/web/20160307012900/https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/Chinyanja/Fsi-ChinyanjaBasicCourse-StudentText.pdf ''Chinyanja Basic Course'']. Foreign Service Institute, Washington, D.C., pp. 157, 160–65.</ref>
: {{lang|ny|iyé '''ndi''' mphunzitsi}} {{gloss|he is a teacher}}
: {{lang|ny|iyé '''sí''' mphunzitsi}} {{gloss|he is not a teacher}}

For the 1st and 2nd persons the particle {{lang|ny|ndi}} is combined with pronouns, e.g., {{lang|ny|ine}} {{gloss|I}}:
: {{lang|ny|ine '''ndine''' mphunzitsi}} {{gloss|I am a teacher}}
: {{lang|ny|iwe '''ndiwe''' mphunzitsi}} {{gloss|you (sg.) are a teacher}}
: {{lang|ny|ine '''síndine''' mphunzitsi}} {{gloss|I am not a teacher}}

For temporary states and location, the copula is the appropriate form of the defective verb {{lang|ny|-li}}:
: {{lang|ny|iyé '''ali''' bwino}} {{gloss|he is well}}
: {{lang|ny|iyé '''sáli''' bwino}} {{gloss|he is not well}}
: {{lang|ny|iyé '''ali''' ku nyumbá}} {{gloss|he is in the house}}

For the 1st and 2nd persons the person is shown, as normally with Chichewa verbs, by the appropriate pronominal prefix:
: {{lang|ny|ine '''ndili''' bwino}} {{gloss|I am well}}
: {{lang|ny|iwe '''uli''' bwino}} {{gloss|you (sg.) are well}}
: {{lang|ny|kunyumbá '''kuli''' bwino}} {{gloss|at home (everything) is fine}}

In the past tenses, {{lang|ny|-li}} is used for both types of copula:
: {{lang|ny|iyé '''analí''' bwino}} {{gloss|he was well (this morning)}}
: {{lang|ny|iyé '''ánaalí''' mphunzitsi}} {{gloss|he was a teacher (at that time)}}

In the future, subjunctive, or conditional tenses, a form of the verb {{lang|ny|khala}} {{gloss|sit/dwell}} is used as a copula:
: {{lang|ny|máwa '''ákhala''' bwino}} {{gloss|he'll be fine tomorrow}}

=== Muylaq' Aymaran ===

Uniquely, the existence of the copulative verbalizer suffix in the Southern Peruvian [[Aymara language|Aymaran]] language variety, Muylaq' Aymara, is evident only in the surfacing of a vowel that would otherwise have been deleted because of the presence of a following suffix, lexically prespecified to suppress it. As the copulative verbalizer has no independent phonetic structure, it is represented by the Greek letter ʋ in the examples used in this entry.

Accordingly, unlike in most other Aymaran variants, whose copulative verbalizer is expressed with a vowel-lengthening component, -'':'', the presence of the copulative verbalizer in Muylaq' Aymara is often not apparent on the surface at all and is analyzed as existing only meta-linguistically. However, in a verb phrase such as "It is old", the noun {{lang|ay|thantha}} {{gloss|old}} does not require the copulative verbalizer: {{lang|ay|thantha-wa}} {{gloss|It is old}}.

It is now pertinent to make some observations about the distribution of the copulative verbalizer. The best place to start is with words in which its presence or absence is obvious. When the vowel-suppressing first person simple tense suffix attaches to a verb, the vowel of the immediately preceding suffix is suppressed (in the examples in this subsection, the subscript "c" appears prior to vowel-suppressing suffixes in the interlinear gloss to better distinguish instances of [[Vowel deletion|deletion]] that arise from the presence of a lexically pre-specified suffix from those that arise from other (e.g. phonotactic) motivations). Consider the verb {{lang|ay|sara-}}, which is inflected for the first person simple tense and so, predictably, loses its final root vowel: {{lang|ay|sar(a)-<sub>c</sub>t-wa}} {{gloss|I go}}.

However, prior to the suffixation of the first person simple suffix {{lang|ay|-<sub>c</sub>t}} to the same root nominalized with the agentive nominalizer {{lang|ay|-iri}}, the word must be verbalized. The fact that the final vowel of {{lang|ay|-iri}} below is not suppressed indicates the presence of an intervening segment, the copulative verbalizer: {{lang|ay|sar(a)-iri-ʋ-t-wa}} {{gloss|I usually go}}.

It is worthwhile to compare of the copulative verbalizer in Muylaq' Aymara as compared to La Paz Aymara, a variant which represents this suffix with vowel lengthening. Consider the near-identical sentences below, both translations of "I have a small house" in which the nominal root {{lang|ay|uta-ni}} {{gloss|house-attributive}} is verbalized with the copulative verbalizer, but the correspondence between the copulative verbalizer in these two variants is not always a strict one-to-one relation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coler |first=Matt |year=2015 |title=A Grammar of Muylaq' Aymara: Aymara as spoken in Southern Peru |series=Brill's Studies in the Indigenous Languages of the Americas |publisher=Brill |pages=472–476 |isbn=978-9-00-428380-0}}</ref>

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| La Paz Aymara:
| {{lang|ay|ma: jisk'a uta-ni-:-<sub>c</sub>t(a)-wa}}
|-
| Muylaq' Aymara:
| {{lang|ay|ma isk'a uta-ni-ʋ-<sub>c</sub>t-wa}}
|}

=== Georgian ===
As in English, the verb "to be" ({{transliteration|ka|qopna}}) is irregular in [[Georgian language|Georgian]] (a [[South Caucasian languages|Kartvelian language]]); different verb roots are employed in different tenses. The roots {{transliteration|ka|-ar-}}, {{transliteration|ka|-kn-}}, {{transliteration|ka|-qav-}}, and {{transliteration|ka|-qop-}} (past participle) are used in the present tense, future tense, past tense and the perfective tenses respectively. Examples:

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{transliteration|ka|Masc'avlebeli v'''ar'''.}}
| {{gloss|I '''am''' a teacher.}}
|-
| {{transliteration|ka|Masc'avlebeli vi'''kn'''ebi.}}
| {{gloss|I '''will be''' a teacher.}}
|-
| {{transliteration|ka|Masc'avlebeli vi'''qav'''i.}}
| {{gloss|I '''was''' a teacher.}}
|-
| {{transliteration|ka|Masc'avlebeli v'''qop'''ilv'''ar'''.}}
| {{gloss|I '''have been''' a teacher.}}
|-
| {{transliteration|ka|Masc'avlebeli v'''qop'''ili'''qav'''i.}}
| {{gloss|I '''had been''' a teacher.}}
|}

In the last two examples (perfective and pluperfect), two roots are used in one verb compound. In the perfective tense, the root {{lang|ka|qop}} (which is the expected root for the perfective tense) is followed by the root {{lang|ka|ar}}, which is the root for the present tense. In the pluperfective tense, again, the root {{lang|ka|qop}} is followed by the past tense root {{lang|ka|qav}}. This formation is very similar to [[German language|German]] (an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]]), where the perfect and the pluperfect are expressed in the following way:

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|de|Ich '''bin''' Lehrer '''gewesen'''.}}
| {{gloss|I have been a teacher}}, literally {{gloss|I '''am''' teacher '''been'''.}}
|-
| {{lang|de|Ich '''war''' Lehrer '''gewesen'''.}}
| {{gloss|I had been a teacher}}, literally {{gloss|I '''was''' teacher '''been'''.}}
|}

Here, {{lang|de|gewesen}} is the past participle of {{lang|de|sein}} {{gloss|to be}} in German. In both examples, as in Georgian, this participle is used together with the present and the past forms of the verb in order to conjugate for the perfect and the pluperfect aspects.

=== Haitian Creole ===
[[Haitian Creole language|Haitian Creole]], a [[French-based creole language]], has three forms of the copula: {{lang|ht|se}}, {{lang|ht|ye}}, and the [[zero copula]], no word at all (the position of which will be indicated with ''Ø'', just for purposes of illustration).

Although no textual record exists of Haitian-Creole at its earliest stages of development from French, {{lang|ht|se}} is derived from French {{IPA|fr|se|}} (written {{lang|fr|c'est}}), which is the normal French contraction of {{IPA|fr|sə|}} (that, written {{lang|fr|ce}}) and the copula {{IPA|fr|e|}} (is, written {{lang|fr|est}}) (a form of the verb {{lang|fr|être}}).

The derivation of {{lang|ht|ye}} is less obvious; but we can assume that the French source was {{IPA|fr|ile|}} ("he/it is", written {{lang|fr|il est}}), which, in rapidly spoken French, is very commonly pronounced as {{IPA|fr|je|}} (typically written {{lang|fr|y est}}).

The use of a zero copula is unknown in French, and it is thought to be an innovation from the early days when Haitian-Creole was first developing as a Romance-based [[pidgin]]. Latin also sometimes used a zero copula.

Which of {{lang|ht|se}}/{{lang|ht|ye}}/Ø is used in any given copula clause depends on complex syntactic factors that we can superficially summarize in the following four rules:

1. Use ''Ø'' (i.e., no word at all) in declarative sentences where the complement is an adjective phrase, prepositional phrase, or adverb phrase:

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=1a)
|Li te Ø an Ayiti.
|she PAST COP in Haiti.
| "She was in Haiti."}}

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=1b)
|Liv-la Ø jon.
|book-the COP yellow.
| "The book is yellow."}}
{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=1c)
| Timoun-yo Ø lakay.
| Kids-the COP home.
| "The kids are [at] home."}}

2. Use {{lang|ht|se}} when the complement is a noun phrase. But, whereas other verbs come after any tense/mood/aspect particles (such as {{lang|ht|pa}} to mark negation, or {{lang|ht|te}} to explicitly mark past tense, or {{lang|ht|ap}} to mark progressive aspect), {{lang|ht|se}} comes before any such particles:

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=2a)
|Chal se ekriven.
|Charles is writer.
|"Charles is a writer."}}

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=2b)
| Chal, ki se ekriven, pa vini.
| Charles, who is writer, not come.
|}}

3. Use {{lang|ht|se}} where French and English have a [[dummy pronoun|dummy "it"]] subject:

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=3a)|glossing2=no|lang2=fr
| Se mwen!
| C'est moi!
| "It's me!"
|}}

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=3b)|glossing2=no|lang2=fr
| Se pa fasil.
| C'est pas facile.
| "It's not easy"
|}}

4. Finally, use the other copula form {{lang|ht|ye}} in situations where the sentence's syntax leaves the copula at the end of a phrase:

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=4a)
| Kijan ou ye?
| how 2SG be?
| "How you are?"}}

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=4b)
| Pou kimoun liv-la te ye?
| Of who book-the PAST be?
| "Whose book was it?"}}

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=4c)
| M pa konnen kimoun li ye.
| I not know who he is.
| "I don't know who he is."}}

{{interlinear|lang=ht|number=4d)|lang2=fr|glossing2=no
| Se yon ekriven Chal ye.
| C'est un écrivain Charles est.
| Be a writer Charles be.
| "Charles is a ''writer''!"}}

The above is, however, only a simplified analysis.<ref>[[#Howe90|Howe 1990]]. Source for most of the Haitian data in this article; for more details on syntactic conditions as well as Haitian-specific copula constructions, such as {{lang|ht|se kouri m ap kouri}} (It's run I ''progressive'' run; "I'm really running!"), see the grammar sketch in this publication.</ref><ref>[[#Vald88|Valdman & Rosemond 1988]].</ref>

=== Japanese ===
[[File:Ja da ya.png|thumb|Japanese copulae in the mid 20th century]]
The [[Japanese language|Japanese]] copula (most often translated into English as an inflected form of "to be") is unique among verbs in Japanese. It is highly irregular, and in several ways behaves in ways other verbs do not; such as requiring a separate [[Relative clause|relativised]] form in some circumstances, and acting simply as a marker of [[Honorific speech in Japanese|formality/politeness]] with no predication force in some circumstances. In the most basic case, it behaves like a normal verb with irregular forms, which (like most copulas crosslinguistically) takes a non-case-marked complement instead of an object.

{{fs interlinear |lang=ja |indent=2
|私 は 学生 だ。
|Watashi wa gakusei da.
|I TOP student COP
|{{gloss|I'm a student.}}
}}
{{fs interlinear |lang=ja |indent=2
|これ は ペン です。
|Kore wa pen desu.
|this TOP pen COP-POL
|{{gloss|This is a pen.}}
}}

As with all verbs in Japanese, it is necessary to mark the speaker's implied social relationship to the [[Interlocutor (linguistics)|addressee]] by the choice of verb form. The following two sentences differ only in the fact that the first is appropriate only between decently close friends or family, or said by someone of significantly higher social status than the listener, and the second is only appropriate outside of such circumstances.

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ja|あれはホテルだ。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Are wa hoteru da.}} || {{gloss|That's a hotel.}} ||
|-
| {{lang|ja|あれはホテルです。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Are wa hoteru desu.}} || {{gloss|That is a hotel.}} ||
|}

Japanese has two classes of words which correspond to adjectives in English, one of which requires a copula to become a predicate and one of which does not.

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ja|このビールはおいしい。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Kono bīru wa oishii.}} || {{gloss|This beer is delicious.}}
|-
| {{lang|ja|このビールは豪華だ。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Kono bīru wa gouka da.}} || {{gloss|This beer is extravagant.}}
|-
| <sup>*</sup>{{lang|ja|このビールはおいしいだ。}}
| <sup>*</sup>{{transliteration|ja|Kono bīru wa oishii da.}} || colspan=2 | Invalid, as {{transliteration|ja|oishii}} is its own predicate and does not need a copula to make it a predicate
|}

However, the polite copula {{transliteration|ja|desu}} is used as a means to mark the self-predicating class of adjectives as grammatically formal, and thus the formal equivalent of {{transliteration|ja|kono bīru wa oishii}} is {{transliteration|ja|kono bīru wa oishii desu}}. In these situations, the copula is not serving as an actual predication device; it is only a means to supply formality marking.

The non-self-predicating class of adjectives is the one place in modern Japanese where a separate [[Relative clause|relativiser]] form appears; these require the form {{transliteration|ja|na}} in order to modify nouns.

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ja|このビールはおいしい。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Kono bīru wa oishii.}} || {{gloss|This beer is delicious.}}
|-
| {{lang|ja|おいしいビール}}
| {{transliteration|ja|oishii bīru}} || {{gloss|delicious beer}}
|-
| {{lang|ja|このビールは豪華だ。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Kono bīru wa gouka da.}} || {{gloss|This beer is extravagant.}}
|-
| {{lang|ja|豪華なビール}}
| {{transliteration|ja|gouka na bīru}} || {{gloss|extravagant beer}}
|-
| <sup>*</sup>{{lang|ja|豪華ビール}}
| <sup>*</sup>{{transliteration|ja|gouka bīru}} || colspan=2 | Invalid, as this class of adjectives cannot just be placed next to a noun to modify it
|-
| <sup>*</sup>{{lang|ja|豪華だビール}}
| <sup>*</sup>{{transliteration|ja|gouka da bīru}} || colspan=2 | Invalid, as the copula form {{transliteration|ja|da}} requires a specially marked form when it heads a relative clause, unlike all other verbs in modern Japanese
|}

Etymologically the copula is a reduced form of {{transliteration|ja|de aru}}, which effectively means 'exists as'; in formal situations {{transliteration|ja|de aru}} or its formal form {{transliteration|ja|de arimasu}} can appear in place of {{transliteration|ja|da}} or {{transliteration|ja|desu}}, and in certain situations other forms of {{transliteration|ja|aru}} may be appropriate (such as {{transliteration|ja|gozaru}}/{{transliteration|ja|gozaimasu}}). Nonstandard forms such as {{lang|ja|や}} {{transliteration|ja|ya}} in [[Kansai dialect|Kansai]] and {{lang|ja|じゃ}} {{transliteration|ja|ja}} in much of the rest of western Japan (see map above) are due to various dialects reducing {{transliteration|ja|de aru}} differently than the [[Kanto region|Kantō]]-based standard form did.

The negative form of the copula is generally {{transliteration|ja|de wa nai}} or its reduced form {{transliteration|ja|ja nai}} (or in formal situations, substitute {{transliteration|ja|arimasen}} for {{transliteration|ja|nai}}). This includes the [[Topic (linguistics)|topic]] marker {{transliteration|ja|wa}}, due to negative copula sentences typically implying some kind of contrastive topic-like force on the complement. {{transliteration|ja|De nai}} can occur in relative clauses, where information structure marking might be odd, but {{transliteration|ja|de wa nai}} is also a general negative copula and would be sensible still in any situation {{transliteration|ja|de nai}} might be used.

Many sentences in Japanese are structurally a headless relative clause nominalised by {{transliteration|ja|no}} (or its reduced form {{transliteration|ja|n}}) and then predicated with a copula; the structure is analogous to something like English ''it's that...''. This structure is used to indicate that the statement is intended to answer a question or explain confusion a listener may have had (though the question it answers may not have ever been overtly spoken). This has largely been incorporated into Japanese's [[sentence-final particle]] system, and is far more common than the equivalent English structure.

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ja|そこにある。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Soko ni aru.}} || {{gloss|It's over there.}}
|-
| {{lang|ja|そこにあるんだ。}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Soko ni aru n da.}} || {{gloss|(What's going on is that) it's over there.}}
|}

Similarly, {{transliteration|ja|ja nai}} has also been recruited into the sentence-final particle system, and is used to mark a sentence that the speaker should have been decently obvious to the listener, or to indicate that the speaker is surprised to find that the sentence is true. In this role it can cooccur with an actual predicative {{transliteration|ja|ja nai}}, but not with the positive {{transliteration|ja|da}}; {{transliteration|ja|da}} is omitted in such sentences.

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ja|明日じゃない！}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Ashita ja nai!}} || {{gloss|Why, it's tomorrow!}} (differs from "It's not tomorrow" only by intonation; {{transliteration|ja|ja nai}} as a sentence-final particle is not a separate phonological unit while as a negative copula it is)
|-
| {{lang|ja|明日じゃないじゃない！}}
| {{transliteration|ja|Ashita ja nai ja nai!}} || {{gloss|Why, it ''isn't'' tomorrow!}}
|}

=== Korean ===
For sentences with '''predicate nominatives''', the copula {{lang|ko|이}} ({{transliteration|ko|i-}}) is added to the predicate nominative (with no space in between).

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ko|바나나는 과일이다.}}
| {{transliteration|ko|Ba-na-na-neun gwa-il-i-da.}} || {{gloss|Bananas are a fruit.}}
|}

Some adjectives (usually colour adjectives) are nominalized and used with the copula {{lang|ko|이}} ({{transliteration|ko|i-}}).

1. Without the copula {{lang|ko|이}} ({{transliteration|ko|i-}}):

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ko|장미는 빨개요.}}
| {{transliteration|ko|Jang-mi-neun ppal-gae-yo.}} || {{gloss|Roses are red.}}
|}

2. With the copula {{lang|ko|이}} ({{transliteration|ko|i-}}):

:{| border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1"
| align=left |  || align=right |  || align=left |
|-
| {{lang|ko|장미는 빨간색이다.}}
| {{transliteration|ko|Jang-mi-neun ppal-gan-saek-i-da}} || {{gloss|Roses are red-coloured.}}
|}

Some Korean adjectives are derived using the copula. Separating these articles and nominalizing the former part will often result in a sentence with a related, but different meaning. Using the separated sentence in a situation where the un-separated sentence is appropriate is usually acceptable as the listener can decide what the speaker is trying to say using the context.

=== Chinese ===
{{See also|Chinese adjectives|Chinese particles|Chinese grammar}}
{{notice|small=left |style=width: auto; margin-right: 0px; |textstyle=width: auto; |This section uses [[Simplified Chinese]] characters, and pronunciation is indicated using [[Standard Chinese]] [[pinyin]]}}

In [[Chinese language|Chinese]], both states and qualities are, in general, expressed with [[stative verb]]s (SV) with no need for a copula, e.g., in [[Traditional Chinese|Chinese]], "to be tired" ({{lang|zh-Hans|累}} {{transliteration|zh|lèi}}), "to be hungry" ({{lang|zh-Hans|饿}} {{transliteration|zh|è}}), "to be located at" ({{lang|zh-Hans|在}} {{transliteration|zh|zài}}), "to be stupid" ({{lang|zh-Hans|笨}} {{transliteration|zh|bèn}}) and so forth. A sentence can consist simply of a pronoun and such a verb: for example, {{lang|zh-Hans|我饿}} {{transliteration|zh|wǒ è}} ({{gloss|I am hungry}}). Usually, however, verbs expressing qualities are qualified by an adverb (meaning "very", "not", "quite", etc.); when not otherwise qualified, they are often preceded by {{lang|zh-Hans|很}} {{transliteration|zh|hěn}}, which in other contexts means "very", but in this use often has no particular meaning.

Only sentences with a noun as the complement (e.g., "This is my sister") use the copular verb "to be": {{Lang-zh|c={{linktext|是}}|p=shì|labels=no}}. This is used frequently; for example, instead of having a verb meaning "to be Chinese", the usual expression is "to be a Chinese person" ({{Lang-zh|p=wǒ shì Zhōngguórén|labels=no|s={{linktext|我|是|中国人}}|t={{linktext|我|是|中國人}}|first=|c=}}; {{Abbr|{{small|lit.}}|literally}} {{gloss|I am a Chinese person}}; {{gloss|I am Chinese}}). This {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} is sometimes called an [[equative sentence|equative]] verb. Another possibility is for the complement to be just a noun modifier (ending in {{Lang-zh|c={{linktext|的}}|p=de|labels=no}}), the noun being omitted: {{Lang-zh|p=wǒ de qìchē shì hóngsè de|labels=no|s={{linktext|我的|汽车|是|红色|的}}|l=My car is red. {{small|([[noun phrase]] indicator)}}|c=|t=}}

Before the [[Han dynasty]], the character {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} served as a [[demonstrative pronoun]] meaning "this" (this usage survives in some idioms and [[wikiquote:Chinese proverbs|proverbs]].) Some linguists believe that {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} developed into a copula because it often appeared, as a repetitive subject, after the subject of a sentence (in [[classical Chinese]] we can say, for example: "George W. Bush, ''this'' president of the United States" meaning "George W. Bush ''is'' the president of the United States).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pulleyblank|first=Edwin G.|title=Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar|publisher=UBC Press|year=1995|location=Vancouver|isbn=0-7748-0541-2}}{{page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref> The character {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} appears to be formed as a [[Chinese character classification|compound]] of characters with the meanings of "early" and "straight."

Another use of {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} in modern Chinese is in combination with the modifier {{Lang-zh|c=的|labels=no}} {{transliteration|zh|de}} to mean "yes" or to show agreement. For example:

<blockquote>Question: {{lang|zh-Hans|你的汽车是不是红色的？}} {{transliteration|zh|nǐ de qìchē shì bú shì hóngsè de?}} {{gloss|Is your car red or not?}}{{pb}}Response: {{lang|zh-Hans|是的}} {{transliteration|zh|shì de}} {{gloss|Is}}, meaning "Yes", or {{lang|zh-Hans|不是}} {{transliteration|zh|bú shì}} {{gloss|Not is}}, meaning "No." </blockquote>

(A more common way of showing that the person asking the question is correct is by simply saying "right" or "correct", {{lang|zh-Hans|对}} {{transliteration|zh|duì}}; the corresponding negative answer is {{lang|zh-Hans|不对}} {{transliteration|zh|bú duì}} {{gloss|not right}}.)

Yet another use of {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} is in the ''shì...(de)'' construction, which is used to emphasize a particular element of the sentence; see {{Slink|Chinese grammar|Cleft sentences}}.

In [[Hokkien]] {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} {{transliteration|zh|sī}} acts as the copula, and {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}} {{IPA|/z/}} is the equivalent in [[Wu Chinese]]. [[Cantonese]] uses {{Lang-zh|c=係|labels=no}} ({{Lang-zh|j=hai6}}) instead of {{Lang-zh|c=是|labels=no}}; similarly, [[Hakka language|Hakka]] uses {{Lang-zh|c=係|labels=no}} {{transliteration|zh|he<sup>55</sup>}}.

===Siouan languages===<!-- This section is linked from [[Medicine man]] -->
In Siouan languages such as [[Lakota language|Lakota]], in principle almost all words—according to their structure—are verbs. So not only (transitive, intransitive and so-called "stative") verbs but even nouns often behave like verbs and do not need to have copulas.

For example, the word {{lang|lkt|wičháša}} refers to a man, and the verb {{gloss|to be a man}} is expressed as {{lang|lkt|wimáčhaša/winíčhaša/wičháša}} {{gloss|I am/you are/he is a man}}. Yet there also is a copula {{lang|lkt|héčha}} {{gloss|to be a ...}} that in most cases is used: {{lang|lkt|wičháša hemáčha/heníčha/héčha}} {{gloss|I am/you are/he is a man}}.

In order to express the statement {{gloss|I am a doctor of profession}}, one has to say {{lang|lkt|pezuta wičháša hemáčha}}. But, in order to express that that person is THE doctor (say, that had been phoned to help), one must use another copula {{lang|lkt|iyé}} {{gloss|to be the one}}:

{{interlinear|lang=lkt|indent=2
|pežúta wičháša (kiŋ) miyé yeló
|medicine-man DEF ART I-am-the-one {{gcl|MALE ASSERT|glossing=no abbr}}
|{{gloss|I am the doctor}}
}}

In order to refer to space (e.g., Robert is in the house), various verbs are used, e.g., {{lang|lkt|yaŋkÁ}} (lit., {{gloss|to sit}}) for humans, or {{lang|lkt|háŋ/hé}} {{gloss|to stand upright}} for inanimate objects of a certain shape. "Robert is in the house" could be translated as {{lang|lkt|Robert thimáhel yaŋké (yeló)}}, whereas "There's one restaurant next to the gas station" translates as {{lang|lkt|Owótethipi wígli-oínažiŋ kiŋ hél isákhib waŋ hé.}}

=== Constructed languages ===
The [[constructed language]] [[Lojban]] has two words that act similar to a copula in natural languages. The clause {{lang|jbo|me ... me'u}} turns whatever follows it into a predicate that means to be (among) what it follows. For example, {{lang|jbo|me la .bob. (me'u)}} means "to be Bob", and {{lang|jbo|me le ci mensi (me'u)}} means "to be one of the three sisters". Another one is {{lang|jbo|du}}, which is itself a predicate that means all its arguments are the same thing (equal).<ref>[http://ptolemy.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/lojbanbrochure/lessons/less12eq.html Lojban For Beginners] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20060830212608/http://ptolemy.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/lojbanbrochure/lessons/less12eq.html |date=2006-08-30 }}</ref> One word which is often confused for a copula in Lojban, but is not one, is {{lang|jbo|cu}}. It merely indicates that the word which follows is the main predicate of the sentence. For example, {{lang|jbo|lo pendo be mi cu zgipre}} means "my friend is a musician", but the word {{lang|jbo|cu}} does not correspond to English ''is''; instead, the word {{lang|jbo|zgipre}}, which is a predicate, corresponds to the entire phrase "is a musician". The word {{lang|jbo|cu}} is used to prevent {{lang|jbo|lo pendo be mi zgipre}}, which would mean "the friend-of-me type of musician".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Complete Lojban Language |url=http://lojban.github.io/cll/2/6/ |website=The Lojban Reference Grammar |access-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410225800/http://lojban.github.io/cll/2/6/ |archive-date=10 April 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Indo-European copula]]
* [[Nominal sentence]]
* [[Stative verb]]
* [[Subject complement]]
* [[Zero copula]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== General references ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book | last= Moro | first= Andrea | author-link=Andrea Moro | date= March 2018 | title= A Brief History of The Verb "to be"| url= https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/brief-history-verb-be | publisher= [[MIT Press]] | isbn= 978-0-262-03712-9 | page= 304 }}
* {{Cite book | title= Write Well: Improving Writing Skills | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_XTeNQpNbYMC | first= Barli | last= Bram | date= 5 July 1995 | publisher= Penerbit Kanisius | location= [[Yogyakarta (city)|Yogyakarta]], [[Indonesia]] | isbn= 978-979-497-378-3 | ref= Bram95<!-- | access-date= 2009-05-04 --> | page= 128 }}
* {{Cite book | title= The Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Volumes I–V | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uieX1Q_IKEYC | edition= illustrated, revised | editor-first= Martin | editor-last= Everaert |editor2-link=Henk van Riemsdijk| editor2= van Riemsdijk, Henk | publisher= [[Blackwell Publishing|Wiley-Blackwell]] | isbn= 978-1-4051-1485-1 | page= 849 | year= 2006 }} (See "copular sentences" and "existential sentences and expletive ''there''" in Volume II.)
* {{Cite book | last= Howe | first= Catherine | author2= Desmarattes, Jean Lionel | year= 1990 | title= Haitian Creole Newspaper Reader | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=E7FkAAAAMAAJ | publisher= Dunwoody Press | isbn= 978-0-931745-59-1 | ref= Howe90 | page= 232}}
* {{Cite book | author= [[William Kneale|Kneale, William]] and Martha Kneale | year= 1962| title= The Development of Logic | publisher= [[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]] | location= [[Oxford]] | oclc= 373178 | isbn= 0-19-824183-6}}
* Moro, A. (1997) [http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?ISBN=9780521024785 ''The Raising of Predicates'']. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.
* {{Cite book | last= Smith | first= Ron F | author2= O'Connell, Loraine M. | date= March 2003 | title= Editing Today Workbook | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IBth6ZKCi3EC | edition= 2nd | publisher= [[Blackwell Publishing|Wiley-Blackwell]] | isbn= 978-0-8138-1317-2 | ref= Smith03<!-- | access-date= 2009-05-04 --> | page= 264 }}
* Tüting, A. W. (December 2003). ''[http://www.fa-kuan.de/LAKSTRUCT.HTML Essay on Lakota syntax]''. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719003246/http://www.fa-kuan.de/LAKSTRUCT.HTML |date=2011-07-19 }}.
* {{Cite book | last= Valdman | first= Albert | year= 1988 | author2= Rosemond, Renote | title= Ann Pale Kreyòl: An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tU9hAAAACAAJ | edition= Illustrated | others= Illustrations: Philippe, Pierre-Henri | publisher= Creole Institute, [[Indiana University]] | isbn= 978-0-929236-00-1 | ref= Vald88 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |title=A brief history of the verb "to be" |author=Andrea Moro |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-262-03712-9 |publisher=MIT Press}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Story of Be: A Verb's-Eye View of the English Language |author=David Crystal |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-879109-6 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
{{Wikiquote}}

{{lexical categories|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copula (Linguistics)}}
[[Category:Parts of speech]]
[[Category:Verb types]]