Verb + adjective ( not adverb )

Question

Hello,I saw a sentence like 'she went naked through Edinborg' . Is this correct? because naked is not an adverb. Thanks .

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Yes, it is fine. Certain verbs can act like linking verbs and have such subject complements in restricted contexts. Compare:

He sat stunned by the news.
She proved reticent about the matter.
The crowd fell silent at the news.
The candle was burning low and he had still not kissed her.
The children ran wild while their mother was out.

Servet Portakal · Answer

These are good examples, I got them but I'm still not sure when to use this structure. Can you compare the structures ( verb + adverb vs. verb + adjective )

Mister Micawber · Answer

Servet Portakal Can you compare the structures ( verb + adverb vs. verb + adjective )

Perhaps you would post specifically what concerns you. I do not give free lectures.

Servet Portakal · Answer

Well, I have a bit sleeped on it. I've just noticed that In Turkish we don't change the form of the adjectives when we use them as an adverb. We say like "I drive bad" we don't say like "I drive badly".. So When I learned adverbs in English, I started to search for adverbs for every sentence. I've never thought this type of usage until I stumble across the sentence 'she went naked ...' So the sentence ''she went naked on a horse through Edinborg' looked weird. After your message I had thought this usage in my native language which is Turkish. then I found some examples by myself. But It's used in restricted contexts like you said and in order to build sentences like 'She proved reticent about the matter.' you need more than grammer...Because the word pair have to be coherent. and they are not standard in all languages.For instant; Everybody can use the structure "to be/ to get + adjective" . Because you don't have to worry about anything. every adjective is appropriate with the verbs 'to be' and 'to get'. For ex: She was silent. But in order to say 'She proved reticent about the matter', you need more than grammer as I said before. You must know the way native speakers speak. if you didn't say these sentences, i could never build them. They are not the way we speak... Maybe I would say "She stayed reticent about the matter" . What I have been trying to say is these sentences like idioms, every nation explains some conditions with different words. we say like 'break free' you americans say 'set free' vs... Finally your examples have expanded my horizon. Thanks.

BillJ · Answer

Hi Servet

It is true that Turkish is not as fussy as English about the distinction between adjectives (which modify nouns) and adverbs (which modify verbs). But Turkish does have a few adverbs (zarflar) doesn't it? Many English adverbs are derived from adding -ly to an adjective: beautiful ~ beautifully , direct ~ directly, simple ~ simply. Similarly, Turkish has the suffix -ce to make adverbs from adjectives: guzel ~ guzelce, dogru ~ dogruca, sade ~ sadece.

But back to the sentence you cited in your last post:

"She went naked on a horse through Edinburgh".

Admittedly, this is a tricky construction for non-native speakers. Here we have an adjunct modifying the verb "went", but instead of it being the expected adverb (like "quickly" or "hurriedly"), we find the adjective "naked", which is clearly telling us something about the subject "she", just like an adjectival predicative complement would do (cf. "She was naked"). In your sentence, "naked" can be called a 'predicative adjunct', a combination of predicative complement and adjunct.

Hope that makes sense!

BillJ

Servet Portakal · Answer

This absulately makes sense. I've exactly understood what you both said. Thanks a lot. But you know, translating a sentence is a lot easier than making a new one ( specially a good one ) from nothing . So I guess I need to read books ( immediately ) in English to build better sentences.

I see you know Turkish. That's cool, I hardly never see native English speakers speaking Turkish. Anyways, let's back to the subject, I wanted to say yes you can use -ce or .... bir sekilde ( ex: güzel bir sekilde çalis = study well ) but I don't use it unless I want to emphasize it.

Verb + adjective ( not adverb )

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