ABSTRACTrnrnThe title of this study is “THE ABILITY IN USING LINKING VERB BE OFrnTHE EEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA SWASTA TERAKREDITASI PGRIrnKUPANG IN THE SCHOOL YEAR 2012/2013”. It aims to answer the questions in thernfollowing: (1). Are the eleventh grade students of SMA Swasta Terakreditasi PGRI Kupangrnable to use linking verb be? (2) What is the ability level of the eleventh grade students ofrnSMA Swasta Terakreditasi PGRI Kupang in using linking verb be? (3) What are the area ofrndifficulties encountered by the eleventh grade students of SMA Swasta Terakreditasi PGRIrnKupang in using linking verb be? The objectives of the study are: (1) To find out whether orrnnot the eleventh grade students of SMA Swasta Terakreditasi PGRI Kupang are able to usernlinking verb be. (2) To find out the students’ level of ability in the use of linking verb be. (3)rnTo find out the area of difficulties encountered by the eleventh grade Students of SMArnSwasta Terakreditasi PGRI Kupang in using linking verb be. The method used in this studyrnwas Normative Survey Method. The subject of this study is eleventh grade students of SMArnSwasta Terakreditasi PGRI Kupang in the school year 2012/2013. The writer choosesrnstudents of language program class. There were 21 students of language program class whornbecome the respondents of the study. The instrument used in this study was the test in thernform of multiple choice test and translation test with the total number of test items was 30,rndivided into two part, twenty (20) for multiple choice test and ten (10) for translation test.rnThe result of the analysis shows that the eleventh grade students of SMA SwastarnTerakreditasi PGRI Kupang in the school year 2012/2013 are not able yet to use linking verbrnbe and their ability level was Below Average because the ability average is only (5.27%). Thernindividual level of ability in using linking verb be can be classified as follows: 1 studentrn(14.76%) got good level of ability, 4 students (19.05%) got fairly good level of ability, 4rnstudents (19.05%) got average level of ability, 6 students (28.57%) got Below Average levelrnof ability, 3 students (14.29%) got poor level of ability, 3 students (14.29%) got Very Poorrnlevel of ability. The areas of difficulties faced by the students of SMA Swasta TerakreditasirnPGRI Kupang in using linking verb be are put in sentences, such as: be “am, is, are, was,rnwere and will be” in correct position when they used it. Those happened because the studentsrnhave poor knowledge of grammar and different structures of linking verb be in simplernpresent, simple past, and simple future. Based on the result of the study, the writerrnrecommends the teacher of English in SMA Swasta Terakreditasi PGRI Kupang should givernthe students more explanation and practices about how to use verb be as a linking verb inrntenses and should be focused on verb be “was, were and will be because most of therneleventh grade students of SMA Swasta Terakreditasi PGRI Kupang in the school yearrn2012/2013 still made mistakes and were confused in using linking verb be in tenses.",",",