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ErtugrulM Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Why this is adj. instead of adv?

hi,
In the following sentence:
They are happy.

Underlined word is adjective according to grammar book.
But why this is adj, does not it modifies the verb 'to be',
so shouldn't it be an adverb?
  

Top answer

ertugrulM But why this is adj, does not it modifies the verb 'to be', It modifies the noun they. Which implies it is an adjective. Prajwal

— Prajwalkr

  • ertugrulM But why this is adj, does not it modifies the verb 'to be', It modifies the noun they.
  • Which implies it is an adjective.
  • Prajwal
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4 Answers
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ertugrulMBut why this is adj, does not it modifies the verb 'to be',
It modifies the noun they. Which implies it is an adjective.

Prajwal
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The full sentence would be:

They are happy people/students/etc
compare
They are happily married people. (where 'happily' is an adverb modifying the adjective 'married')
and
The child giggled happily. (as an adverb, modifying the verb)
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The verb "to be" is a linking verb (a copula) and linking verbs are followed by adjectives rather than adverbs.

They are happy.

They seem happy. ("seem" is another linking verb)

This sentence proved difficult to analyze. (prove is yet another example of a linking verb)
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The full sentence is not "They are happy people." "They are happy" is a full sentence, and no more words are needed to make "happy" an adjective.

It seems to you that "happy" modifies "to be" because you are sensing copulativeness. "Happy" modifies "they". Certain verbs in English are copulative verbs, and "to be" is the most common. A copulative verb creates an identity between its subje
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