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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
'smiling' an adjective in this sentence?
He is always smiling these days.
In this context would you say that 'smiling' is an adjective?
In this context would you say that 'smiling' is an adjective?
Top answer
No, not at all. It is the present participle and 'is smiling' is the present progressive verb form.
- No, not at all.
- It is the present participle and 'is smiling' is the present progressive verb form.
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4 Answers
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No, not at all. It is the present participle and 'is smiling' is the present progressive verb form.
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No, it's not an adjective here; it's a verb in the progressive aspect even though there's an adjunct separating the two parts of the verb, i.e. auxiliary 'is' and the participle 'smiling'.
BillJ
BillJ
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Am I right to say that there's a difference between:
He always smiles. (habitual action)
&
He is always smiling. (he's continuously smiling now)
He always smiles. (habitual action)
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He is always smiling. (he's continuously smiling now)
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Not in this case. 'Always' indicates that they are both habitual or continuous actions. The choice of the progressive merely expresses the speaker's increased interest in the action.
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