Questions tagged [predicate-adjectives]
The predicate-adjectives tag has no usage guidance.
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Differences between Verb + to be + adjective and Verb + adjective
What are the differences between these two sentences?
These two guys seem to be inseparable.
These two guys seem inseparable.
I can intuitively say that the latter one is grammatically wrong. Could ...
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In the sentence, "They went to bed hungry," what type of adjective is "hungry?" [duplicate]
This question arises from a mistake I made in class. I incorrectly identified hungry as an adverb in the sentence below. I appreciate your wisdom.
Question: In the sentence, "They went to bed ...
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Is "something red" an example of ellipsis or adjectival positioning
I want to better understand why the construction something + [adjective] makes grammatical sense.
Background: I was recently reading a Washington Post article and came across the following sentence.
...
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Is 'white' an adverb in "the lamp will flash white"?
What is the role of 'white' in the following sentence?
The lamp on the machine will flash white when you restart it.
It seems like it is an adverb here, but is it possible to use colours as ...
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What kind of verb classification is "causative"?
I understand why "causative" verbs like "let" and "allow" are described this way, but I don't understand how this classification relates to other verb descriptors. Is &...
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The verb "to get" + particle ...?
In the phrase "to get all crazy" am I correct when I say that the "all crazy" is a particle phrase? Example:
I'm up for tonight's party. I'm going to get all crazy.
user1007
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Can adjectives be placed in front of verbs, e.g. “The duck was busy diving for food”?
The duck was busy diving for food.
The duck was busily diving for food.
Are both sentences grammatically correct?
If the first one is correct, does it mean that adjectives can be placed in ...
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Correct use of "rid of"
From what I understood, "rid of" is used when I want to express that particular object will be disposed of something. "Get rid of something," on the other hand, does not specify the object.
According ...
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Non verbal predicates in English
Is a non-verbal predicate a synonymous term for "nominal predicate"? And moreover, do non-verbal predicates only appear with linking verbs or can also appear in other types of constructions?
I ...
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adverbs after linking verbs
They write we must use adjectives rather than adverbs after linking verbs. For example https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/taste_2:
Food can taste sweet like sugar.
But here's ...
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Is “A increases the bigger B becomes” a legal English sentence pattern? Is it really a disguised “the more X, the more Y” pattern?
For many years I’ve been using constructions of two interrelated clauses where each of the two verbs comes with a comparative adverb or adjective of some sort (so either with more or less, or else ...
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Adjectives used with intransitive verbs in lieu of adverbs
I certainly wouldn't argue that "I feel good" should be replaced with "I feel well," but I have forgotten what we used to call the adjective in this type of construction. Adjective predicate? ...
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The predicate nominative and the predicate adjective is to subjective complements as the ___ and the ___ is to objective complements
What do we call those words which are adjectives used as objective complements and nouns/pronouns used as objective complements
See the terms that describe adjectives or nouns/pronouns used as ...
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Why do we take things personally with an adverb but take them easy with an adjective? How can this be justified? [closed]
Why do we write take it personally or take it seriously with adverbs but we also write take it easy with an adjective, not take it easily with an adverb? How is this switching off between adjectives ...
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Is it correct to use "versatile" in a sentence without mentioning which thing?
I have seen sentences like these:
He’s so versatile an actor.
She’s a versatile entertainer.
The potato is a versatile vegetable.
Can I use versatile in these ways?
She is so versatile.
She is very ...
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Is it possible to construct a question out of a resultative predicate?
I've seen contradictory answers to this question. Do any of the following how-sentences with resultative adjectives sound remotely fine to you native speakers? Or are they all bad? Is there a cline of ...
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What’s grammatically incorrect in the phrase, “create the most impact the quickest?’
The entire sentence reads,
Choose a specific process that would create the most impact the quickest.
In other words, the resulting impact occurs more rapidly and more powerfully than that caused by ...
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How to tell the difference between predicate adjectives and action verbs
While analyzing essays, I often get confused between whether a word is a predicate adjective of an action verb.
I found the definition of a predicate adjective to be "An adjective used in the ...
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Do you think 'alone' can be used as an attribute adjective, ie. before a noun
OED concludes it to be "rare" now.
I'm wondering if native English speakers find these quotes too dated and unacceptable for today's English.
1668 Howe - Had this been the alone folly.
1873 ...
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Adjectives acting in the capacity of adverbs? Or just accumulative adjectives?
You seem scary happy.
That house is scary big.
Not sure if I am over-reading it, but it seems to me here "scary" functions in the capacity of adverb modifying the adjective that follows: ...
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Can a phrasal adjective be placed AFTER a noun? [closed]
If phrasal adjectives can be placed after nouns, what are some examples?
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Can the noun eyewitness be used properly without a preceding article?
Today I was writing an email calling somebody "eyewitness to" some event, but it was marked as incorrect and it was suggested I precede it with an article; i.e. an eyewitness, instead. But ...
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Is there a word to describe the portion of one's total funds that may be spent as opposed to the portion which must be held on to? [closed]
I cannot think what else I might add...
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only linking verbs with predicate adjectives and nominatives?
Can only linking verbs have predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives as complements?
If action verbs can have predicates as well then it would be really helpful to me if you could please share ...
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Is it correct to write "feast luxurious" instead of "feast luxuriously"? [duplicate]
And much there is on which my ear and eye
Can feast luxurious.
The preceding sentence is a line from a sonnet by Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873).
Is it correct to write "feast luxurious"...
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Verb-ing followed by isolated adjective
There is this definition of the word "Justification" which says,
The action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God.
Is it correct if I say "righteous" acts as a ...
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What is the difference between a predicate nominative/predicate adjectives and a subject complement?
For example, the sentence "John was a policeman" or "Ben was angry." Both describe the subject, so I'd call them subject complements. But they could also be a predicate nominative ...
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Hyphenation of compound adjective as object complement
Consider these three cases:
Here is the up-to-date information.
Mark this information up-to-date.
This information is up to date.
Those are spelled the ways that feel correct to me, but I'm not ...
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Adjectives describing quantity
What is the difference between indefinite adjectives and adjectives of quantity.
Are indefinite adjectives and adjectives of quantity are same.
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Part of speech of "likely"
It is likely to rain.
Here likely is a predicate adjective with to rain as the complement (correct me if I'm wrong).
Who took the cookie? It was likely Bob.
Is likely also a predicate adjective ...
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Gerund or a predicate adjective?
In sentences like "but now it is running" or "but now it is standing"
What are the words running/standing? I believe they're verbs/gerunds but I have some friends who think they are predicate ...
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Is there a difference between "good" and "well" when they are connected to subject via linking verb? [duplicate]
John is feeling well.
John is feeling good.
"well" is an adverb and "good" is an adjective.
Is #2 grammatically correct at all or is it ok to construct Subject + Linking Verb + Adjective ...
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It sounds well or it sounds good? [duplicate]
Is it possible and correct to use "well" with "to sound"? I am under the impression that most natives find it wrong. For example:
1 The guitar sounds good. - OK
2 The guitar sounds well. - Possible?
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Adverb vs. Adjective use [closed]
We typically use adverbs to describe verbs, but there are exceptions. Would you rather say 'You glow different' or 'You glow differently'? Are both acceptable?
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Can anyone help me identifying the type of adjective in the following sentence? [closed]
"He is a beautiful boy."
I know that if an adjective is used before the noun, it is known as attributive, but here he is a pronoun and the adjective is used after the verb is. It's a little ...
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Why is "sad" not a verb? [closed]
I'm learning English grammar now for the first time, and I find it extremely confusing.
A verb is defined as
an action, an occurrence, or a state of being. Whether mental,
physical, or ...
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Sailed back safe [closed]
See this problem:
How about the ship then?
It sailed back _____.
A. safe
B. safely
C. safety
The answer is A. Although it's understandable, I still wondered why B isn't the answer?
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