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Mikael Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Adjective or verb?
1) Two people were seriously injured in the accident.
2) The meeting was very badly organised.
I know that both seriously and badly are adverbs, but I don't understand why the two boldface words are verbs.
To me they are adjectives.
3) It`s a reasonably cheap restaurant and the food is extremely good
4) The examination was surprisingly easy
These examples I can understand that the boldface words are adjectives.
So can anybody else explain to me what are the differences between verbs and adjectives?
I know the rules that say "A verb is an action word" and "An adjective is a describing word", but it's not enough to me.
If somebody else knows where I can find the explanation about that, just tell me where.
Thanks!
2) The meeting was very badly organised.
I know that both seriously and badly are adverbs, but I don't understand why the two boldface words are verbs.
To me they are adjectives.
3) It`s a reasonably cheap restaurant and the food is extremely good
4) The examination was surprisingly easy
These examples I can understand that the boldface words are adjectives.
So can anybody else explain to me what are the differences between verbs and adjectives?
I know the rules that say "A verb is an action word" and "An adjective is a describing word", but it's not enough to me.
If somebody else knows where I can find the explanation about that, just tell me where.
Thanks!
Top answer
This is sort of a pons assinorum of passive voice. In many cases, a dual interpretation is possible: (1) passive voice - People were injured. (Something was done to the people.
- This is sort of a pons assinorum of passive voice.
- In many cases, a dual interpretation is possible: (1) passive voice - People were injured.
- (Something was done to the people.
- ) (2) active voice, verb "to be" + past participle as adjective complement - People were injured.
- ) (This tells us what kind of people they were.
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39 Answers
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This is sort of a pons assinorum of passive voice.
In many cases, a dual interpretation is possible:
(1) passive voice - People were injured. (Something was done to the people. The people received an action.)
(2) active voice, verb "to be" + past participle as adjective complement - People were injured. (People are hated.)
(This tells
In many cases, a dual interpretation is possible:
(1) passive voice - People were injured. (Something was done to the people. The people received an action.)
(2) active voice, verb "to be" + past participle as adjective complement - People were injured. (People are hated.)
(This tells
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Mikael1) Two people were seriously injured in the accident.These are verbs. What you've got there is passive voice, which consists of Auxiliary verb "To Be" + Main Verb in the PAST PARTICIPLE. Thus, there's no way to mistake them with adjectives. To better identify whether a word is an adver
2) The meeting was very badly organised.
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Hi,
There are two way to approach this kind of questions;
There is no boubt these are passive sentences. But some people considered "injured" a past particple used as adjective to mean "they are seriously hurt....(in the accident)" Accident -can be viewed as the agent.
1) Two people were seriously injured in the accident.
The same is true here/ If you went
There are two way to approach this kind of questions;
There is no boubt these are passive sentences. But some people considered "injured" a past particple used as adjective to mean "they are seriously hurt....(in the accident)" Accident -can be viewed as the agent.
1) Two people were seriously injured in the accident.
The same is true here/ If you went
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GoodmanOne thing can not change. They are passive sentences.Hi Goodman.
Don't you agree that replacing an adjective derived from a transitive verb with one which is not, makes a sentence clearly in active voice? (That is, since intransitive verbs can't be used passively?)
As a result of the collision, two of her fingers were completely
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I agree, Avangi. The question is one that can be answered differently, depending on one's approach. I simply look as the passive voice as incorporating the past participle, acting as an adjective (but which can also be used as an adjective in a slightly different construction).
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Hi Avangi,
<<As a result of the collision, two of her fingers were completely severed. (passive, possibly active), No! This can not be an active sentence!
<< As a result of the collision, two of her fingers were completely gone. (only active) Yes, "gone" is used adjectivally. meaning absent, not present But It has nothing to
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Mikael know the rules that say "A verb is an action word" and "An adjective is a describing word", but it's not enough to me.rather simply, an adverb adds to the meaning of a verb and an adjective describes a noun.
In your example: The people were injured. "were injured" is the verb. How bad they were injured is "seriously" hence it is
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Well, thank you all for answering my doubts.
Let me put some examples to see if I really got it.
Passive examples: (What does it happen to the subject?)
The letter was posted a week ago. (The letter doesn't really perform the action of being posted. It receives the action of being posted. It receives the action expressed in the verb)
I was born in London
Let me put some examples to see if I really got it.
Passive examples: (What does it happen to the subject?)
The letter was posted a week ago. (The letter doesn't really perform the action of being posted. It receives the action of being posted. It receives the action expressed in the verb)
I was born in London
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Mikael
Observations and experience told me passive voice and adverbial property are the two areas that seem to have caused much confusion as many learners were taught the simple rules of converting active sentence to passive, not the finer points of how and when to use it.
Passive examples: (What does it happen to the subject?)
The letter was posted a week ago.
Observations and experience told me passive voice and adverbial property are the two areas that seem to have caused much confusion as many learners were taught the simple rules of converting active sentence to passive, not the finer points of how and when to use it.
Passive examples: (What does it happen to the subject?)
The letter was posted a week ago.
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