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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Verb vs. adjective
Dear all,
I've got a question regarding the distinction of predicative adjectives and verbs if they appear as past participles.
In a sentence, such as "I was disappointed." what part of speech does "disappointed" have. Is it a verb or an adjective (i.e. predicative adjective)?
If the sentence were "I was disappointed by her.", it should be a verb but in the former sentence this seems less obvious to me. There are many cases in which adjectives and the past participles of verbs coincide (e.g. upset, frightened, angered, obsesses, convinced etc.). Is there a general rule of thumb how to distinguish these two types of word classes?
Thank you very much in advance.
Kind Regards,
Michael
I've got a question regarding the distinction of predicative adjectives and verbs if they appear as past participles.
In a sentence, such as "I was disappointed." what part of speech does "disappointed" have. Is it a verb or an adjective (i.e. predicative adjective)?
If the sentence were "I was disappointed by her.", it should be a verb but in the former sentence this seems less obvious to me. There are many cases in which adjectives and the past participles of verbs coincide (e.g. upset, frightened, angered, obsesses, convinced etc.). Is there a general rule of thumb how to distinguish these two types of word classes?
Thank you very much in advance.
Kind Regards,
Michael
Top answer
" You are correct, however, that "disappointed" can also be a verb. " The other adjective/verb words you cited have similar qualities. They can be adjectives or verbs, depending on their usage (except for "obsesses," but maybe you intended to write "obsessed," since that would fit in with this group as well).
- " You are correct, however, that "disappointed" can also be a verb.
- " The other adjective/verb words you cited have similar qualities.
- They can be adjectives or verbs, depending on their usage (except for "obsesses," but maybe you intended to write "obsessed," since that would fit in with this group as well).
- " Just remember that the verb is your action word, and although "to be" is passive in nature, it will still be the verb if it is present.
- Here are a few examples that I hope will help: She is obsessed with him.
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1 Answers
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In both of your sentences, "disappointed" is an adjective, modifying the noun "I," and your verb in these sentences is "was." You are correct, however, that "disappointed" can also be a verb. The following sentence is an example of this type of usage: "She disappointed me."
The other adjective/verb words you cited have similar qualities. They can be adjectives or verbs, depending on their
The other adjective/verb words you cited have similar qualities. They can be adjectives or verbs, depending on their
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