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系动词，尤其是半系动词是中学生在英语学习中感到困惑的问题之一。本文将结合高中英语教材，从意义、用法、时态、语态和语气等方面探讨系动词的用法。
一、系动词的意义
系动词本身有一定的词义，不能单独作谓语，必须与其后的表语连用构成谓语，说明主语的特征、状态或变化。系动词分为两种：一是BE动词，二是由一些行为动词转化而来的半系动词。半系动词又分为以下几种类型：
1.表示人体感觉的系动词，如sound，look，feel，taste和smell等。
2.表示主观判断的系动词，包括seem，appear，turn out，prove和happen等。
3.表示主语从一种状态转变为另一种状态，如become，turn，grow，get，go，come和fall等。
4.表示主语继续保持某种身份、特征或状态，如keep，remain，stay，stand和lie等。
二、系动词的用法
绝大多数系动词之后都可以直接跟形容词或名词。在运用系动词时须注意以下几点：
1.在表示人体感觉的系动词之后通常直接跟形容词作表语，如果是名词则要与介词like或of连用，口语中sound之后的like可省略。例如：
What he says sounds(like)a good idea.
My new coat feels like leather，but it is not.
He only wanted natural materials，such as stone.brick and wood to be used and many parts of his buildings look like things we find in nature.(SEFC Book 2A，p20)
2.在具有判断意义的系动词之后，可直接跟形容词或to be加形容词，也可跟其他动词的不定式形式。而在不带形容词的名词之前，则要加to be。
例如：
Everything about these buildings seems hard and unfriendly.(SEFC Book 2A，p20)
I spoke to a tall man who seemed to be the boss.
Toussaint proved not only to be a great freedom fighter and a soldier but also a great statesman.(SEFC Book 2B，p107)
You two seem to know each other very well.
不过也有例外。比如，happen之后即便是形容词作表语也一定要与to be连用。例如：
He happened to be very suitable for the job.
I happened to know all the truth.
3.在表示状态转变的系动词之后，要注意形容词与系动词的习惯搭配。
当get之后接形容词时，其意义与become相似，常用来指人或物的状态的变化。go也用来表示变化或改变，常与表示颜色的词连用，其意义近似于turn。在正式文体中，turn更为常用。但当人或物的情况变坏，尤其是指这种变化为永久性的或难以扭转时，往往用go加形容词来表示由好到坏的转变，这些形容词有wrong，bad，mad，hungry，blind等。
grow，fall，come，run也是用来表示发展变化的系动词，但用法有所不同。grow表示成长、发展中的变化，常与strong，tall，thick，healthy等连用；fall表示由动态到静态的转变，接ill，sick，silent，asleep等作表语；come与right，true，alive等词连用表示事物的发展转向好的状态；run则表示发展的状态不是人们所希望的，后面常接dry，short，wild等形容词。下面是从高中英语教材和高考题中摘抄的相关例子：
All too often，global development means that rich people get richer while the poor get poorer.(SEFC Book 2A，p68)
It was wonderful，like a dream come true.(SEFC Book 2B，p4)
The wounds are slow to heal and the sears run deep.(SEFC Book 2B，p43)
On hearing the news of the accident in the coal mine，she went pale.（2004湖北卷）
The discussion came alive when an interesting topic was brought in.（2004浙江卷）
此外，在become和turn后面还可以接名词，但turn之后可数名词的单数不可加不定冠词a/an，而become之后则必须有不定冠词，试比较下面两个句子：
From being a girl guided by duty,Juliet becomes a loyal young woman of strength and self-determination.(SEFC Book 2B,p142)
When he turned professional at the age of 11,Mike was expected to become a world champion by his coach and his parents.
4.在表示主语的身份或特征不变的系动词中，remain与stay有些区别。remain表示主语的特征、状态自始至终保持不变，而stay则表示目前的状态能继续下去。例如：
She(Cordelia)remains loyal to her father despite his cruelty towards her，...(SEFC Book 2B，p142)
What a lovely day today! I love fine weather and I hope it will stay fine for some more days.
三、系动词的时态
与行为动词一样，系动词就其词汇意义来说也有状态和动态之分。在本文第一部分提及的四类系动词中，除表示主语状态变化的系动词有动态意义之外，BE动词和其余几类都为状态系动词。虽然状态系动词本身只有现在和过去两种时态，但需注意下面几种情况：
1.在表示主观判断的系动词之后都可接带to的动词不定式，这些动词不定式的时态可以是一般时、进行时，也可以是完成时或完成进行时。例如：
The discussion appears to have been very friendly and fruitful.
I happened to be standing next to him when he fell.
They seemed to have been enjoying the work very much.
2.feel作为表示感觉的系动词具有两种不同的意思，一是表示“某物体给人以怎样的感觉”，二是表示“主语自身的感觉”。当feel表示第一种含义时与其他状态系动词一样，只用于现在时或过去时；而用来表示自身感觉时，则可以用于各种时态。例如：
—How are you today?
—Oh，I haven't felt as ill as I do now for a long time.（2000高考卷）
I'm feeling a little better today.
3.动词be有时也可以用于进行时。例如：
You are being too modest.
He is being foolish.
动词be用于进行时与其后的形容词有很大的关系，只有少数动态形容词能与动词be的进行时连用。
4.动态系动词的时态则由系动词本身体现，它们可以用现在时和过去时，也可以用将来时、进行时和完成时。例如：
Poor Tom has gone blind!
It worried her a bit that her hair was turning grey.
The children have been running wild since their parents divorced.
The milk will go sour if you don't put it in the fridge.
半系动词的疑问句和否定句在现在时或过去时中需借助助动词do来完成。当表示主观判断的系动词带有动词不定式短语时，其否定形式既可借助do来对系动词进行否定，也可将not置于系动词之后对其不定式短语加以否定。例如：
Did they happen to be quarrelling when you called?
Thinkers who have changed the world do not seem to have much in common.(SEFC Book 2B，p59)
His new book appears not to be as interesting as his other ones.
四、系动词的语态
系动词本身只有主动语态一种形式，其被动意义主要由以下两种方式体现：
1.表示人体感觉的系动词本来就是用以说明句子主语给人留下的感觉或印象，它们往往以主动形式来表示被动意义。例如：
Does the music sound familiar to you?
The flowers smelling sweet in the botanic garden attract the visitors to the beauty of nature.（2004上海卷）
2.表示判断意义的系动词虽然只有主动语态，但其后的不定式短语可以是主动语态，也可以是被动语态；可以是一般现在时的被动语态，也可以是完成时的被动语态。例如：
In some of his architecture，balconies look like eyes.other parts look like bones，the walls seem to be covered with the skin of a fish，while the roof looks like the back of a dragon.(SEFC Book 2A，p20)
Do let your mother know the truth.She appeared to have been told everything.（2001.上海卷）
五、系动词的语气
系动词主要用于陈述语气，但当表示人的感觉与主观判断，且其后是以as if/as though引导的表语从句来表示一种“不真实”的感觉或判断时，则要用虚拟语气。例如：
It looked as if time hadn't had any effect on her; she remained young and beautiful all the time.
Indeed,it sometimes seems as if there were almost more foreigners than Londoners in London.
但如果表语从句所表述的内容属真实情况，也可不用虚拟语气。例如：
Seen from the top,it looks as if the stadium is covered by a gray net of steel,and it looks just like a bird's nest made of tree branches.(SEFC Book 2A，p20)
It often seems as if the Olympic spirit is stronger at the Special Olympics than at the regular one:...(SEFC Book 2B，p55)
此外，当BE动词表示继续保持某种状态时，可以用于祈使语气。例如：
Be careful when you cross the busy street,or you may get run over by a car.（2002北京卷）
六、系动词的结构
从句子转换的角度来看，“系动词+to do”可以与“It+系动词+that”的结构转换。转换的办法是将原句中的主语作为that从句的主语，从句的时态和语态由原句中动词不定式的时态和语态决定。能够进行这种转换的系动词有seem，happen，appear，turn out和prove等。例如：
You seem to have made a mistake here.→It seems that you've made a mistake here.
She appeared to have been told everything.→It appeared that she had been told everything.
在表示“存在”的there BE句型中，表示判断的系动词，如seem，appear等与to be连用，能使句子的语气显得更加委婉。例如：
There seems to be some misunderstanding between us.
There happened to be someone fit for the job.
不仅如此，部分表示状态或动作的系动词可以用来替换句型中的BE动词，使整个句子显得形象且生动。例如：
There came a strange figure dressed all in black.
There remains nothing in the house after the fire.
There lies a river in front of our house.
七、被动语态与系表结构的区别
“BE+及物动词过去分词”有两种功能，即构成被动语态和系表结构。二者的主要区别在于以下两点：
1.被动语态表示动作，可以在过去分词后加by词组来表明动作的发出者；而系表结构虽然具有被动含义，但主要用来说明主语的状态，其过去分词已具有形容词特征，可以被very修饰。在作为形容词的过去分词之后，还可按照习惯搭配与about，with和of等介词连用，使句子的意思更加完整。
2.出于表达的需要，系表结构中的过去分词可以与除BE以外的其他系动词连用，而被动结构则不能。例如：
Some of the greatest inventors forced themselves to develop new ideas even when they were tired or didn't feel inspired.(SEFC Book 2B，p60)
Keith seems very interested in a career in farming.
She looked very worried about her exams.
Slowly my eyes became used to the darkness.
另外，与“BE+过去分词”一样，“get+过去分词”也有被动意义，但“get+过去分词”常见于口语和非正式文体，或用来表示突发事件或事故；或用来表示动作的回归，说明主语自身的状态。能与get搭配的过去分词比较少，常见的有：broken，causht，killed，married，engaged，paid，washed，dressed，stuck等。例如：
—How are the team playing?
—They are playing well，but one of them got hurt.（2002全国卷）
Sarah，hurry up.I'm afraid you won't have time to get changed before the party.（2004全国卷）
一般来说，“get+过去分词”都能用“BE+过去分词”来替代，但能用BE的地方不一定能用get。例如，下面句子中的BE就不可用get来代替：
He is regarded as one of the top students in our class.
The film star is being interviewed.
I was given three books on cooking，the first of which I really enjoyed.（2006浙江卷）