Active past verbs used as adjective?

Question

"The killer left a string of pulverized corpses behind him"

Hi, why would the sentence use "pulverized" instead of "pulverizable" when the 1st one is not even a proper adjective? Is it because any active past verbs can also be treated as an adjective to modify nouns?

Thank you

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

GuyperIs it because any active past verbs can also be treated as an adjective to modify nouns?

pulverized is not the past of pulverize in that context. It is the past participle. A past participle can be used as an adjective.

Note:
Infinitive - Past - Past Participle

pulverize - pulverized - pulverized
break - broke - broken

So if we wanted to describe the corpses in terms of an adjective based on the verb break, we would not use the past (broke), but the past participle (broken), like this:

The killer left a string of broken corpses behind him.

The difficulty in your example is that the past and the past participle for the verb pulverize are identical.

CJ

Clive · Answer

Hi,

"The killer left a string of pulverized corpses behind him"

why would the sentence use "pulverized" instead of "pulverizable"

pulverized - describes the corpses, ie the killer actually did this.

pulverizable - the ending -able indicates the corpses were capable of being pulverized, ie it was a possibility. This does not explicitly tell us whether the killer actually did it.

It's pretty odd to say 'pulverizable'.

A more normal example is this.

a painted surface - someone has painted it.

a paintable surface - you can paint it if you want to.

Best wishes, Clive

Active past verbs used as adjective?

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