adjective or passive

Question

A question:A: Hey, I am having a party on Friday.B: Really?? Cool.A: Yeah, and you are invited / you are being invited. Which one?I would say 'you are invited', even though it is in a present moment, but could it be that 'invited' is an adjective here? ThanksLS

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

louiSTcould it be that 'invited' is an adjective here?

Not very likely because you can't say "very invited" or "extremely invited", nor can you say of someone that he "seems invited".

These are the things you can do with adjectives. Compare: cold, very cold, extremely cold, It seems cold.

CJ

LouiST · Answer

But what's with:

I am finished
I am done

So which would you use? You are invited, or you are being invited?
LS

Mark Callan · Answer

You are invited The present continuous of be is not common.

CalifJim · Answer

louiSTSo which would you use? You are invited, or you are being invited?

Oh. Right. I forgot that part.

You are invited makes the invitation on the spot. It's saying, "I hereby invite you".
You are being invited means someone will eventually get around to inviting you one of these days. (present continuous used for future time) It's equivalent to "You are going to be invited".

So obviously you want the first one for the situation you presented in your first post in this thread.
________________

louiSTI am finished I am done

finished and done are not gradable, so "very finished" and "very done" won't work. You can still consider finished an adjective, though, because you can say "the finished product" or "an unfinished symphony". done is more of a problem. When it comes to language, there is not always a good explanation for everything.

This brings up a very big and complicated subject that I hoped to avoid. Passive gradience. There is a whole spectrum of passives. It ranges from true passives to constructions that look like passives but are more like the verb be with adjectives.

See

Your sentence with "invited" is one of these borderline areas. There is some reason to think of "are invited" as a passive, and there is some reason to think of "invited" as an adjective. I tried to simplify my answer not knowing how deep into the weeds you wanted to get with the topic.

CJ

LouiST · Answer

Thank you.
Very clear!

I read your answer to 'passive voice or adjective' and just one question to 'statal passive':
The glass is broken. (The glass has been broken) - You said it's untrue passive, but if you had to choose between 'active' and 'passive', which one would you take?

And if you had to choose if 'broken' is an adjective or a past participle, which one would you take?
Is it an adjective?

Thanks!!

LS

CalifJim · Answer

louiSTThe glass is broken. (The glass has been broken) - You said it's untrue passive, but if you had to choose between 'active' and 'passive', which one would you take?

As an isolated sentence, I would say that this sentence is active and contains the adjective 'broken'.

Such constructions are often ambiguous in English without further words to help disambiguate. Stated without details these can be ( a ) claims about states of affairs or ( b ) claims about actions.

Note below:
( a ) State. Linking verb be with a past participle adjective.
( b ) Action. Passive voice.

The car is repaired.
( a ) I took the car to the mechanic, and he fixed it. Thank goodness, now the car is repaired. (state)
( b ) Every time I need car repairs, I take it to Acme Auto Magic, where the car is repaired in less than three days. (action)

The door was closed.
( a ) Jack arrived too late. He found no one there. The shop was empty, and the door was closed. (state)
( b ) There was too much wind coming through the shop, so the door was closed by one of the employees. (action)

The toast was burnt.
( a ) I did not enjoy my breakfast. The coffee was weak, the eggs were tasteless, and the toast was burnt. (state)
( b ) We were so distracted by the little dog that we forgot about the toast. That's how the toast was burnt. (action)

[Specialists' corner: Did you know? The Spanish language has the grammatical machinery to make these unambiguous because it has two verbs for to be. Speakers use one of them for the states, and the other for the actions.

]

louiSTif you had to choose if 'broken' is an adjective or a past participle, which one would you take?Is it an adjective?

There is no conflict between being a past participle and being an adjective. One of the more frequent uses of a past participle is as a modifier. That is, many are adjective-like by nature. Here are some examples of past participle adjectives:

a broken promise; a torn shirt; an educated guess; a found object; buried treasure; a known problem; a balanced budget; a paid informant; damaged property; continued success; a timed test; a fractured bone; a baked apple; a lost child; a written promise; a trusted friend; ...

There are hundreds!

CJ

LouiST · Answer

Hey Calif.
I know I should ask (or: be asking??) a new question, but I just love your answers!!!! So I will ask it here:
I have already asked similar questions:
modal verbs + continuous.

I don't get if we use continuous when it refers to a near future event.
Like: I
I have to go. / I have to be going. (You are about to talk to someone and you notice that it's time to go, which one do you say?)

I don't know what I should do. / what I should be doing. (I made a mistake and now I don't know what to do, I may apologize or I may talk to her (or 'I may be talking to her'??) )
-> Would 'I don't know what to do' also correct? Or what about: I don't know what to be doing.

I hope you see which future I mean. It is actually a present moment but it kind of refers to the future.....
LS

CalifJim · Answer

louiSTI don't get if we use continuous when it refers to a near future event.

The difficulty here is that the difference between the simple tense and the continuous tense is not always the same for all cases. From one situation to another the difference may have a different explanation.

louiSTYou are about to talk to someone and you notice that it's time to go, which one do you say?
I have to go. / I have to be going. ...

I have to go. ~ This ranges from neutral to a little curt, impatient, or business-like.
I have to be going. ~ More deferential, apologetic, friendly.

I don't know what I should do.~ This sounds like you haven't started doing anything yet. You are faced with a decision.
I don't know what I should be doing. ~ This sounds like you are already participating in some activity, but are confused.

I don't know what to do. ~ Fine. It's like "I don't know what I should do".
I don't know what to be doing. ~ Not useful. It doesn't sound English! It sounds like a bad translation from some foreign language. I don't recommend this one. It seems like it should be permitted, but nobody uses it, or if they do, it must be very rarely.

The general principle to keep in mind is that the simple form is usually more neutral, and the continuous form is usually more emotional. With the continuous form, you suggest motion, activity, emotional involvement.

CJ

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