The man is tall. The woman is talking.

Question

Hello,

I am a bit confused about the above.

As I understand it, an adjective can come either before a noun, or after the Be verb.

Which explains the first sentence.

But, it seems to me that in the second sentence, 'talking' is a verb.

If so, is it a verb use adjectively?

Thank you,

P

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

fold navyit seems to me that in the second sentence, 'talking' is a verb.

Yes, it is.

fold navyis it a verb use adjectively?

No. A form of be (e.g., 'is') followed by a verb in its -ing form makes a continuous tense.

I am talking; you are talking; he is talking; she is talking; we are talking; they are talking (Present continuous tense of "talk")
I was talking; you were talking; etc. (Past continuous tense of "talk")

The problem is that sometimes adjectives derived from verbs end in -ing, so you have to go by meaning. Here are a few sentences with adjectives in -ing. These do not form continuous tenses.

That was surprising.
The end of the story is frightening.
Their skills in mathematics are amazing.

"That" was not in the act of surprising anyone at that moment.
"The end of the story" is not in the act of frightening anyone at that moment.
"Their skills" are not in the act of amazing anyone at that moment.

So surprising, frightening, and amazing are not verbs here, but adjectives.

CJ

The man is tall. The woman is talking.

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