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Mtfatigue Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
"under" as an adverb modifying an adjective?
"The patient is under emotional."
The justification for the above being acceptable (in addition to "The patient is underemotional" also being okay) is this:
'The patient is emotional. The patient is under emotional. You have an article, a noun, a verb, an adjective in example one. In example two "under" is an adverb modifying the adjective. The grammatic structure works. The meaning works. As it happens, using "under" as a prefix also works. That is why I said either is correct.'
I don't agree with the given rationale for the first sentence being correct. I believe the only correct form is to use "under" as a prefix to "emotional" in this case, yet I don't have the terminology to dispute what is blatantly obvious to me.
The justification for the above being acceptable (in addition to "The patient is underemotional" also being okay) is this:
'The patient is emotional. The patient is under emotional. You have an article, a noun, a verb, an adjective in example one. In example two "under" is an adverb modifying the adjective. The grammatic structure works. The meaning works. As it happens, using "under" as a prefix also works. That is why I said either is correct.'
I don't agree with the given rationale for the first sentence being correct. I believe the only correct form is to use "under" as a prefix to "emotional" in this case, yet I don't have the terminology to dispute what is blatantly obvious to me.
Top answer
I’m not a doctor, but in my opinion the normal state of a person varies. Everyone has emotions just as everyone has health; but the word ‘emotional’ implies that the person is overly so, whereas ‘healthy’ implies an appearance of ‘good’ health. He “is unemotional” means that his emotions are being withheld either deliberately or by habit (having learned that people don’t usually respond to his emotions).
- I’m not a doctor, but in my opinion the normal state of a person varies.
- Everyone has emotions just as everyone has health; but the word ‘emotional’ implies that the person is overly so, whereas ‘healthy’ implies an appearance of ‘good’ health.
- He “is unemotional” means that his emotions are being withheld either deliberately or by habit (having learned that people don’t usually respond to his emotions).
- “Under emotional” would seem to be much the same as “unemotional” and may be deliberately withheld or natural (a cold or uninvolved attitude).
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5 Answers
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I’m not a doctor, but in my opinion the normal state of a person varies. Everyone has emotions just as everyone has health; but the word ‘emotional’ implies that the person is overly so, whereas ‘healthy’ implies an appearance of ‘good’ health. He “is unemotional” means that his emotions are being withheld either deliberately or by habit (having learned that people don’t usually respond to his em
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mtfatigue"The patient is under emotional."It just seems unnatural.
Compare:
The patient is overly emotional. (We never would say "over emotional." and "underly" is not a word.)
Also, if "under" is a preposition, then you need an object:
The patient is under emotional stress.
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"Under" is a prepositional base contrasting with "over" and forming compounds with a range of senses.
I can't see anything wrong with "overemotional" or "underemotional", though the latter is not often heard.
BillJ
I can't see anything wrong with "overemotional" or "underemotional", though the latter is not often heard.
BillJ
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BillJ can't see anything wrong with "overemotional" or "underemotional", though the latter is not often heard.The patient is overly emotional. The patient is not (very) emotional.
I don't think that the 'under.....' .and 'over......' versions are real words.
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Thanks, AlpheccaStars. I mentioned the same, that "under" would be a preposition here, and then the above justification for why it could be "under emotional" without a following object was given.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, it certainly does seem unnatural, and I'm glad you understood the full gist of my question.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, it certainly does seem unnatural, and I'm glad you understood the full gist of my question.
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