Adjective or part of a verb?

Question

Hi. Please help me by telling if the underlined parts are adjectives or part of the verbs. I think no. 1 may (should?) not be followed by a by-phrase like "by him."

As to no. 2, I think we could put a by-phrase like "by him," making the sentence "The things used were not the things that had been desired by him." Moreover, I think no. 2 could have an adverb like "very" before the word "desired." (And that seems to render itself somewhat to the position of it taking on the role of adjective (based on what I think about it but I am not sure, though). What has been noted by about no. 2 previously is what makes me difficult to make out whether the word "desired" is a part of a verb or is an adjective. Help.

1. He confirmed that she had been perfectly cured.

2. The things used were not the things that had been desired.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Anonymous 1. He confirmed that she had been perfectly cured.
2. The things used were not the things that had been desired. The use of "that" is functionally different in the two sentences, but "by him" may be appended to both of them.

The underlined words are part of the verb in both cases.

The tenses are both past perfect, passive voice. "By him" is a typical way to "add" the actor.
He had cured her perfectly. (active voice)
She had been perfectly cured [by him]. (passive voice)

You may be confusing this structure with the verb "to be" plus past participle as adjective:
She is perfectly cured.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Thank you. What confuses me is that I think we could write this (as to the first sentence I introduce to start this tread: He confirmed that she had been very happy for the past two years. Here, I think the word "happy" is an adjective and the word "very" is an adverb modify the word "happy."

The first sentence of the two sentence I introduced is this:

He confirmed that she had been perfectly cured.

For the sentence above, what I am not sure is what the adverb "perfectly" modify. Is it modifying the word "cured" or is it acting as an adverb modifying the verb "had been cured" (if the word "cured" is a part of a verb - passive past perfect tense?)? (Also, I am not sure my question is formed correctly or correctly reflect what I wanted to say, though - maybe it is due to my lack of knowledge on this area of grammar or my inability form (just) the right sentence to convey my thoughts on this matter.)

I think I would have little difficulty in getting a grasp of what role the word "hard" plays here. If I am not mistaken, the word "hard" modifies the verb "had been working."

He confirmed that she had been working hard for the past two years.

Avangi · Answer

I believe I see what you're getting at. Adverbs modify verbs, as their name suggests. By definition, they also modify adjectives and other adverbs. I've never really thought much about exactly what it is about adverbs which allows them to fill both of these roles.

You seem to readily accept "very" as a modifier of "happy," but have some questions about "perfectly" as a modifier of "cured" where "cured" is part of the verb, and not functioning as an adjective.

She will cure him.
She cured him.
He was cured by her.
She was curing him.
She will be curing him.
He will be cured by her.

In each of the above, the emboldened phrase is the verb.

When we modify the verb by the adverb "perfectly," it modifies the whole verb, not just the part beginning with "c."

Both the present and past participles may function as adjectives. When they do, we call them "verbals," or "non-finite verbs," and they retain some qualities as verbs. For instance, they may take objects, and be modified by adverbs.
This is a perfectly cured ham.
The curing properties of the liquid worked their magic.

He confirmed that she had been perfectly cured.

We do have a nasty habit of sticking modifiers in the middle of the phrase which makes up the verb. But that doesn't give us license to isolate "cured" when we modify it, and call it an adjective.

In your last sentence, "had been working" is the verb.

(Sorry about the "overkill.")

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for making it clear. Thank you again.

Adjective or part of a verb?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions