We saw in an earlier section that many adjectives can be identified by their endings. Another major subclass of adjectives can also be formally distinguished by endings, this time by -ed or -ing endings:
| -edform | computerized, determined, excited, misunderstood, renowned, self-centred, talented, unknown |
| -ingform | annoying, exasperating, frightening, gratifying, misleading, thrilling, time-consuming, worrying |
Remember that some -ed forms, such as misunderstood and unknown, do not end in -ed at all. This is simply a cover term for this form. Adjectives with -ed or -ing endings are known as PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVES, because they have the same endings as verb participles (he was training for the Olympics, he had trained for the Olympics). In some cases there is a verb which corresponds to these adjectives (to annoy, to computerize, to excite, etc), while in others there is no corresponding verb (*to renown, *to self-centre, *to talent). Like other adjectives, participial adjectives can usually be modified byvery, extremely, or less (very determined, extremely self-centred,less frightening, etc). They can also take more and most to form comparatives and superlatives (annoying, more annoying, most annoying). Finally, most participial adjectives can be used both attributively and predicatively:
|
Attributive
|
Predicative
|
| That's an irritating noise | That noise is irritating |
| This is an exciting film | This film is exciting |
| He's a talented footballer | That footballer is talented |
Many participial adjectives, which have no corresponding verb, are formed by combining a noun with a participle:
alcohol-based chemicals
battle-hardened soldiers
drug-induced coma
energy-saving devices
fact-finding mission
purpose-built accommodation
These, too, can be used predicatively (the chemicals are alcohol-based, the soldiers were battle-hardened, etc). When participial adjectives are used predicatively, it may sometimes be difficult to distinguish between adjectival and verbal uses:
[1] the workers are striking
In the absence of any further context, the grammatical status of strikingis indeterminate here. The following expansions illustrate possible adjectival [1a] and verbal [1b] readings of [1]:
[1a] the workers are very striking in their new uniforms (=`impressive', `conspicuous') [1b] the workers are striking outside the factory gates (=`on strike')
Consider the following pair:
[2] the noise is annoying
[3] the noise is annoying the neighbours
In [2], we can modify annoying using very:
[2a] the noise is (very) annoying
But we cannot modify it in the same way in [3]:
[3a] *the noise is (very) annoying the neighbours
The acceptability of [2a] indicates that annoying is an adjective in this construction. In [3], the verbal nature of annoying is indicated by the fact that we cannot add very , as in [3a]. It is further indicated by the presence of the neighbours (the direct object) after annoying. Notice also that we can turn [3] into a passive sentence (the neighbours were annoyed by the noise). In this case, annoying is the main verb of the sentence, and it is preceded by the progressive auxiliary verb is. In [2], there is only one verb, the main verb is. We can distinguish between the following pairs using the same criteria:
|
Adjectival
|
Verbal
|
| This film is terrifying | This film is terrifying the children |
| Your comments arealarming | Your comments are alarmingthe people |
| The defendant's answers were misleading | The defendant's answers weremisleading the jury |
We can also identify -ing forms as verbal if it is possible to change the-ing form into a non-progressive verb:
|
Progressive
|
Non-progressive
|
| The children are dancing | The children dance |
| My eyes are stinging | My eyes sting |
| The wood is drying | The wood dries |
Compare these changes from progressive to non-progressive with the following:
| the work is rewarding | ~*the work rewards |
| the job was exacting | ~*the job exacted |
| your paper was interesting | ~*your paper interested |
In these instances, the inability to produce fully acceptable non-progressive sentences indicates adjectival use.
Similar indeterminacy occurs with -ed forms. Again, we can generally use very to determine whether the -ed word is adjectival or verbal:
| The bomb was detonated | ~*The bomb was verydetonated |
| This document is hand-written | ~*This document is very hand-written |
| My house was built in only twelve weeks | ~*My house was very built in only twelve weeks |
| Ten people were killed | ~*Ten people were very killed |
The inability to supply very in these cases indicates a verbal rather than an adjectival construction. However, this test is less reliable with -ed forms than it is with -ing forms, since very can sometimes be supplied in both the adjectival and the verbal constructions:
|
Adjectival
|
Verbal
|
I was embarrassed
I was veryembarrassed | I was embarrassed by your behaviour
I was very embarrassed by your behaviour |
She was surprised
She was very surprised | She was surprised by my reaction
She was very surprised by my reaction |
The presence of a by-agent phrase (by your behaviour, by my reaction) indicates that the -ed form is verbal. Conversely, the presence of a complement, such as a that-clause, indicates that it is adjectival. Compare the following two constructions:
| Adjectival: | The jury was convinced that the defendant was innocent |
| Verbal: | The jury was convinced by the lawyer's argument |
Here are some further examples of adjectival constructions (with complements) and verbal constructions (with by-agent phrases):
|
Adjectival
|
Verbal
|
| I was delighted to meet you again | I was delighted by his compliments |
| John is terrified of losing his job | John is terrified by his boss |
| I was frightened that I'd be late | I was frightened by your expression |
| I was disappointed to hear your decision | I was disappointed by your decision |
If the -ed form is verbal, we can change the passive construction in which it occurs into an active one:
| Passive: | I was delighted by his compliments |
| Active: | His compliments delighted me |
For more on active and passive constructions, see...
As we have seen, discriminating between adjectival and verbal constructions is sometimes facilitated by the presence of additional context, such as by-agent phrases or adjective complements. However, when none of these indicators is present, grammatical indeterminacy remains. Consider the following examples from conversational English:
And you know if you don't know the simple command how to get out of something you're sunk [S1A-005-172] But that's convenient because it's edged with wood isn't it [S1A-007-97]
With -ed and -ing participial forms, there is no grammatical indeterminacy if there is no corresponding verb. For example, in the job was time-consuming, and the allegations were unfounded, the participial forms are adjectives. Similarly, the problem does not arise if the main verb is not be. For example, the participial forms in this book seems boring, and he remained offended are all adjectives. Compare the following:
John was depressed
John felt depressed
|
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