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Dunsany Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Ambiguity: verb or adjective?

Question:
"He was exhausted."
Is 'exhausted' an adjective here or a verb?
On the surface it looks like an adjective, like "the exhausted man". But what about:
"He was exhausted by the difficulties."
Here this is definitely a passive construction, and 'exhausted' is part of the verb.
"He was shot."
This has to be a passive construction, and 'shot' is part of the verb.
"He is exhausted."
Again, looks like 'exhausted' is an adjective. But what about "He is exhausted by the difficulties" ?
I'm guessing that "He was exhausted" is in fact ambiguous and could either tell us about his particular state, in which case 'exhausted' is an adjective, or about an occurrence or action, in which case 'was exhausted' is a verb.
But then, that leaves me struggling to decide:
"He was besotted."
Is 'besotted' an adjective or a verb? Can 'besot' even be a verb?
"The dog was walked."
Can 'walked' be treated as an adjective? The walked and the unwalked?
  

Top answer

"Is 'exhausted' an adjective here or a verb? " In this context it's a verb. You are illustrating the importance of context when asking these kinds of questions.

— CalifJim

  • "Is 'exhausted' an adjective here or a verb?
  • " In this context it's a verb.
  • You are illustrating the importance of context when asking these kinds of questions.
  • "Can 'walked' be treated as an adjective?
  • No.
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38 Answers
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dunsany"He was exhausted."Is 'exhausted' an adjective here or a verb?
It's an adjective because you can add "very" and you can use it coordinated with another adjective ("exhausted but happy")
dunsany"He was exhausted by the difficulties."
In this context it's a verb. You are illustrating the importance of context when aski
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But you could say "He was very exhausted by the difficulties."
Or is that bad English?
"He was totally exhausted by the difficulties."
"He was exhausted but elated by the difficulties."
"The cow was milked."
"The milked cows and the unmilked cows."
And surely you can't use 'very' with every adjective?
"The very murdered man."
"The very finished race."
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And as far as context goes:
What about "The bridge was destroyed."
Surely ambiguous.
"We reached the crest of the hill and stopped in dismay. The bridge was destroyed. There was no way across the river." Definitely an adjective.
"The squadron's bombing was accurate. The bridge was destroyed." Definitely a verb.
I guess this is 'deep' context.
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dunsanyBut you could say "He was very exhausted by the difficulties."
Yes.
dunsanyOr is that bad English?
No.
dunsanyAnd surely you can't use 'very' with every adjective?
No. 'very finished' would be a little weird, for example, or 'very perfect'.

CJ
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But in "He was very exhausted by the difficulties" 'exhausted' is surely a verb, and 'very' is an adverb.
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dunsanyBut in "He was very exhausted by the difficulties" 'exhausted' is surely a verb, and 'very' is an adverb.
OK. And earlier we had this exchange:
dunsany"He was exhausted by the difficulties."
In this context it's a verb.

So are we going i
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To understand the three types of 'false passive' (if you'd like to call them that!), it is first necessary to understand the tests for being an adjective, as enumerated by Palmer. These tests are as follows. An adjective generally can be used before a noun, after a linking verb, with the adverbs very, rather, more, or most, (sometimes with already), and coordinated with another adjec
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dunsanyBut in "He was very exhausted by the difficulties" 'exhausted' is surely a verb, and 'very' is an adverb.
Surely "exhausted" must be an adjective, if the sentence works at all.

The difficulties very exhausted him?
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As for 'can be used before a noun':
"I destroyed the tank."
'destroyed' obviously a verb.
"The destroyed tank."
'destroyed' obviously an adjective.
You might say that this is changing the context, but surely that is exactly what 'can be used before a noun' does.
So the only one of these 'tests' that seems to me to reliably differentiate adjectives from verbs would be the u
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dunsanySo it seems to me that none of Palmer's tests are much use at all.
They are generally very helpful guidelines, (not rules) but remember what CJ said in the other thread: Recognize that some cases [of passive vs adjective] are inherently ambiguous.

Remember,
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