Why is the adjective word "frozen" after the verb in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?
Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair.
If I change the sentence to
Mr. Dursley sat happy in his armchair.
The sentence is wrong, because "happy and "frozen" are adjective words. Why can't I replace "frozen" with "happy"?
In my opinion, the "frozen" is an adjective word. It can't go after the verb "sat".
Adjectives can be used this way, though it is less common.
Some verbs can be used as linking verbs. The most common linking verb is "am/is/are" but as you see in your example "sit" or "stand" can also be linking verbs.
So just as
Mr Durstley was frozen in his armchair. (is correct)
Mr Durstley sat frozen in his armchair. (also correct)
Mr Durstley sat happy in his armchair. (correct but rare)
The last is rare, because usually we would be able to use an adverb
Mr Durstley sat happily in his armchair. (describing the sitting, rather than the man)
"Frozenly" would not be correct, as we are not describing the action of sitting, but man.
Verbs that describe body positions:
"Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair." in a book called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
to sit, stand, kneel, crawl, for example. These are all intransitive verbs.
They do not take objects but are often used with adverbs:
frozen is usually an adjective: The frozen ground was very hard.
However, in "sit frozen", that describes how the person sat, just as in sit contentedly, sit stiffly, sit elegantly. It functions as an adverb. It describes the manner in which he sat.
Essential Meaning of adverb : a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree In "arrived early," "runs slowly," "stayed home," and "works hard" the words "early," "slowly," "home," and "hard" are adverbs.
