20
votes
Accepted
"I am finished" vs "I have finished"
Depending on context they could have the same or slightly different meanings
I have finished
would be said after completing a task either very recently or some time in the recent past
I am ...
- 66.3k
15
votes
Accepted
The ambiguous "he is buried"
There is no ambiguity.
In a present-tense narrative, it could be passive "He marries, he dies, he is buried" but in any other context, it is adjectival.
He is buried
is a copular sentence, where ...
- 76.5k
9
votes
"I am finished" vs "I have finished"
You could say either one, but things get more complicated when you elaborate and mention what you've finished:
I have finished this task.
I am finished with this task.
J.R.♦
- 110k
6
votes
"I am finished" vs "I have finished"
Both are grammatically correct.
I am finished
The speaker is in the state of being finished with a task.
I have finished
This describes the completion of the task in the very recent past. (...
- 179
5
votes
Accepted
Usage of "being"
I have simplified your sentence a little to explain how it works. Start of with this simple statement:
Family time is pleasurable.
If you want to use this as a reason for doing something, you can ...
- 61.1k
3
votes
Comma before a participial phrase at the end of a sentence
It's a case of failing to identify the correct antecedent...
We know the whale is rather unlikely to be in possession of binoculars, but it kind of sounds like it might be.
Dropping a comma in there ...
- 17.5k
3
votes
The ambiguous "he is buried"
This "buried" is the so-called past participle. The past participle is a non-finite verb form. The other non-finite forms are the infinitive and the gerund. "Non-finite" means ...
- 13.4k
3
votes
Usage of "being"
It's incorrect to use a clause (a unit of grammatical organization next below the sentence in rank and in traditional grammar said to consist of a subject and predicate) after "due to". In other words,...
- 5,532
3
votes
Accepted
"All the organizations involved have sent ...." sentence structure problem
You present the following example sentence from the Longmans dictionary definition of the verb appeal.
All the organizations involved have sent urgent appeals to the government, asking for extra ...
3
votes
two sentences about participles
It is not true that adjectival participle clauses in general cannot precede the noun they modify. Such pre-position is acceptable if any elements modifying the participle fall before it:
okThe ...
- 175k
3
votes
closing or closed
Without context, I could not tell you the actual meaning of:
the complicated question
the complicating question
It could be like:
He could not answer a complicated question.
which ...
- 31.2k
3
votes
why does expensive goes before professional?
'Expensive' is an opinion. What is expensive to one person is not necessarily to another. It is related to perceived value.
Adjectives of opinion always go first. A popular guide to order of ...
- 108k
3
votes
"He is not much good" — correct with "much". "She didn't look much disappointed" — is this correct with "much" too?
I need to hammer this nail. Why did you hand me a screwdriver? A screwdriver's not much good.
That is, a screwdriver is ill-suited for hammering.
When I told him there was no Santa Claus, he didn't ...
- 133k
2
votes
"oppose", active or passive voice?
(This is an old question ... but it was bumped, so ...)
Both the question and the given answer from @cbh have misunderstood the actual quoted text that's the context of the question.
As pointed out ...
- 1,521
2
votes
placement of the participle phrase
The phrase "nothing worth mentioning" is an idiom, and will normally be kept together.
Did anything happen? / Nothing worth mentioning.
In the sentence from mthe question this phrase can be broken ...
- 41.3k
2
votes
Accepted
placement of the participle phrase
You can place the phrase after mentioning or after nothing, they are entirely equivalent. They parse differently, but the end effect is the same. It is a matter of style or personal preference.
You ...
- 22.9k
2
votes
Adjective form of "develop" as a transitive verb
Verbs don't have "adjective forms". They do have participles, and some adjectives are formed from the participle form of verbs. Often there are multiple interpretations about whether ...
- 228k
2
votes
The departed (singular)
"departed" or "the dear departed" is correct in this context.
Garner is criticising the "mawkish" style, not the grammar.
- 228k
2
votes
Passive or adjective information
Yes, in this case the adjective and the passive form are the same. Moreover the meaning is also virtually the same. So it doesn't really matter.
The only difference is that the passive sentence ...
- 228k
2
votes
Accepted
Can i say "Tree is fallen" as "considering "fallen" as an adjective instead of past participle which will make the sentence passive voice?
There is no issue of "passive voice" here: fall is intransitive, so it has no passive.
is fallen must therefore be an adjectival complement.
This is possible, but unusual: fallen is fine as ...
- 76.5k
2
votes
Accepted
Person age 65 or Person aged 65
Both are wrong.
If it's a person --meaning just one-- then that person cannot be more than one age at the same time, so "65 and older" makes no sense. Best would be:
A person aged 65 or ...
- 51k
2
votes
I AM WOKEN UP. Could i use "woken" here as an adjective/state instead of passive voice
It's 'grammatically correct', but it doesn't mean what you think. If you want to say that you are no longer asleep, say I am awake (or, as you suggest, I have woken up).
I am woken up would mean '...
- 59.1k
2
votes
"He is not much good" — correct with "much". "She didn't look much disappointed" — is this correct with "much" too?
"not much good" is a special case. Generally "not much" is followed by a comparative adjective, e.g. "not much stupider/better/taller", a mass noun e.g. "not much ...
- 2,587
1
vote
Accepted
Get bored of/with/by/from doing something (Which one is correct?)
The Macmillan Dictionary blog has a nice article about "bored with" vs. "bored of". The conclusion is that they are interchangeable, with the latter being considered a newer usage in the language (...
- 2,305
1
vote
Accepted
Is this a participial phrase?
[1] I picked the one that was immersed in water.
[2] I liked the one that was painted yellow.
Stricly speaking, they are both ambiguous between adjectival and verbal passives.
If they are ...
- 17.3k
1
vote
Usage of participles
-ly turns an adjective (or a participle being used like an adjective) into an adverb.
Adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify verbs (or adjectives or other adverbs).
The effect is that this turns a ...
- 37k
1
vote
Clarity on the word blur, blurred and blurry
"Blurred" is the past tense of the verb to blur. It is also an adjective to describe something that is blurred, as in the case of your example. "Blurry" essentially means the same as "blurred", ...
- 108k
1
vote
Can I use "offset" as an adjective?
Set is a verb where its plain, past-tense, and past-participle forms are all the same. So when used in be + X constructions, it won't change.
The configuration is set (past-participle).
Offset is ...
- 37k
1
vote
Can I use "offset" as an adjective?
But I recently discovered (while attempting to find a synonym) that I cannot really find this adjectival usage of the word "offset" attested in a dictionary or thesaurus.
You say in your question ...
- 36.4k
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