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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Adverb vs adjective with intransitive verbs
Hello everybody,
I have a question about a point of English grammar that I have trouble grasping; maybe you specialists could enlighten me.
With certain intransitive verbs, one can form a sentence with either an adjective or an adverb. For example:
The sun shines bright in the sky.
The sun shines brightly in the sky.
or the well known
Hope springs eternal.
Hope springs eternally.
Grammatically, I understand using the adjective instead of the adverb makes the verb transitive, but what I don't quite understand is the difference it makes in the meaning of the sentence, if there is any difference.
I elicit to use this or that form in sentences I say every day because it "feels" more correct, or less awkward, but I'd really like to know formally what form to use and why instead of relying on gut feelings.
Thank you in advance!
I have a question about a point of English grammar that I have trouble grasping; maybe you specialists could enlighten me.
With certain intransitive verbs, one can form a sentence with either an adjective or an adverb. For example:
The sun shines bright in the sky.
The sun shines brightly in the sky.
or the well known
Hope springs eternal.
Hope springs eternally.
Grammatically, I understand using the adjective instead of the adverb makes the verb transitive, but what I don't quite understand is the difference it makes in the meaning of the sentence, if there is any difference.
I elicit to use this or that form in sentences I say every day because it "feels" more correct, or less awkward, but I'd really like to know formally what form to use and why instead of relying on gut feelings.
Thank you in advance!
Top answer
Hi Anon When you use the adjective in sentences such as The sun shines bright in the sky and Hope springs eternal , you are in essence changing the verb to a linking verb (copular verb), and the meaning of the verb becomes very similar to "is". Rather than describing action (the verb), you are describing the noun (the subject of the sentence): The sun is bright . Hope is eternal .
- Hi Anon When you use the adjective in sentences such as The sun shines bright in the sky and Hope springs eternal , you are in essence changing the verb to a linking verb (copular verb), and the meaning of the verb becomes very similar to "is".
- Rather than describing action (the verb), you are describing the noun (the subject of the sentence): The sun is bright .
- Hope is eternal .
- Here is a list of verbs which are the most commonly used as linking verbs: appear be become feel get go grow look prove remain seem smell sound stay taste turn
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25 Answers
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Hi Anon
When you use the adjective in sentences such as The sun shines bright in the sky and Hope springs eternal, you are in essence changing the verb to a linking verb (copular verb), and the meaning of the verb becomes very similar to "is". Rather than describing action (the verb), you are describing the noun (the subject of the sentence):
When you use the adjective in sentences such as The sun shines bright in the sky and Hope springs eternal, you are in essence changing the verb to a linking verb (copular verb), and the meaning of the verb becomes very similar to "is". Rather than describing action (the verb), you are describing the noun (the subject of the sentence):
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No help here!
Using the adjective makes the verb transitive? Where's the object? The sun shines bright! Shines my shoes? Shines what?
To my ear, this usage resembles the "verbs of sense," which act like being verbs, and take adjective complements.
I feel very bright today. The sun shines bright.
The difference is, you can say "The sun shin
Using the adjective makes the verb transitive? Where's the object? The sun shines bright! Shines my shoes? Shines what?
To my ear, this usage resembles the "verbs of sense," which act like being verbs, and take adjective complements.
I feel very bright today. The sun shines bright.
The difference is, you can say "The sun shin
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Thank you both for your interesting answers. I didn't think of it this way but it does makes sense. The strange thing is, I have this thick grammar book here at home that doesn't even mention the issue, but it's something that comes up constantly in ordinary english. I'll have to dig further in other books.
(Oh by the way I'm the original anon. This site is very interesting so I've created a
(Oh by the way I'm the original anon. This site is very interesting so I've created a
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I'm not sure why these would be considered adjectives and not adverbs. It seems to me that they are
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AlienvoordI'm not sure why these would be considered adjectives and not adverbs. It seems to me that they are http://books.google.com/books?id=2yJusP0vrdgC&pg=PA451&vq=flat+adverbs&dq=me
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Giraut (Oh by the way I'm the original anon. This site is very interesting so I've created an account.)Thanks for joining us, Giraut. Welcome to English Forums!
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Hi all, and welcome to the site, Giraut!
What about this:
He's acting silly.
Is "silly" an adjective or an adverb in that sentence?
Is the verb "act" an "action verb" or a linking verb?
What about this:
He's acting silly.
Is "silly" an adjective or an adverb in that sentence?
Is the verb "act" an "action verb" or a linking verb?
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AvangiAt the very least, it seems fair to say that some of them act adjectivally and some continue to function as adverbs.Which ones are not adverbs? The ones following linking verbs?
I'd say that if you can replace the word with an "-ly" adverb, then it's a flat adverb, as in
the sun shines bright/brightly
but if you can'
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AnonymousWith certain intransitive verbs, one can form a sentence with either an adjective or an adverb.This post might interest you as well.
CJ
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Alienvoord but if you can't replace it with an "-ly" adverb, then it's presumably an adjective and a linking verb
He's acting silly
*He's acting sadly
I feel bright
*I feel brightly I trust you'll take this in the spirit in which it's intended. My memory is refreshed of a "breakable" 78 rpm disc dating from the previous great depress
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