Believer Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
adjective or participle
Hi,
I sometimes have trouble knowing clearly whether the part like the one underlined is an adjective or participle. Do you have some tips?
John kicks the ball.
The ball is kicked by John.
OK, no problem in seeing what 'kicked' is in terms of its grammar function, but not so easy when encountered something like this one:
John is gone. -- To me, (I thinik) it would be impossible to revert to the active mode. Can that be a clue as to why the underlined part cannot be a participle? Is this an adjective?
He is fallen.
I sometimes have trouble knowing clearly whether the part like the one underlined is an adjective or participle. Do you have some tips?
John kicks the ball.
The ball is kicked by John.
OK, no problem in seeing what 'kicked' is in terms of its grammar function, but not so easy when encountered something like this one:
John is gone. -- To me, (I thinik) it would be impossible to revert to the active mode. Can that be a clue as to why the underlined part cannot be a participle? Is this an adjective?
He is fallen.
Top answer
Well, maybe it's not the clue, but as far as I know Passive Voice construction is "to be + past participle". So... 'gone' in your case seems a participle.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
0
Well, maybe it's not the clue, but as far as I know Passive Voice construction is "to be + past participle". So... 'gone' in your case seems a participle. [:^)]
0