58
votes
Accepted
Why is it "crouching tiger hidden dragon" but not "crouching tiger hiding dragon"?
Something that is hiding is taking some deliberate action to hide. Something that is hidden is just not in view (literally or figuratively), possibly due to outside factors.
The book/film title ...
- 12.3k
46
votes
Is "molten" the past participle of "melt"?
Molten was formerly a past participle of melt: (the OED says "Middle English– molten (now archaic)".
In modern use it is only an adjective.
- 76.5k
30
votes
Accepted
Is "molten" the past participle of "melt"?
'Molten' is not the past participle of 'melt' in modern English, although that may be the etymology of the word. It now describes a state of matter, namely that it has been heated to very high ...
- 108k
23
votes
In the sentence "The table was set for lunch" is "set" a verb or an adjective?
As is, there is not enough information to be able to tell, definitively.
i.e. The answer depends on the context in which the sentence appears.
If, for example, it were to be preceded by "I looked ...
- 506
17
votes
Perfect fit for a grammatical error
3 and 4 are both grammatically correct, though 4 is clearly the most natural, so it is the correct answer according to the wording of the question, "the most appropriate option".
4 is ...
- 51k
16
votes
Why was 'Having seen that it is about to rain...' not the correct answer?
had better
I suspect that you were caught out by the word “had”. After all, “had” is the past tense of “to have” (“I had a dog”), and it’s also used as a helper to signify the past perfect (“I had ...
- 1,019
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
11
votes
Accepted
Grammaticality of "a list is added an Item"?
No, it's not right.
The verb add does not take an indirect object the way give does.
You can give a person a present.
You cannot add ✳a list an item.
That's because give is a ditransitive verb (one ...
- 8,323
9
votes
In the sentence "The table was set for lunch" is "set" a verb or an adjective?
A verb, a past participle and a passive construction seem to be a reasonable analysis.
As a participle, we could ask for the active form and would get "Someone set the table for lunch." ...
- 228k
7
votes
Accepted
'miss call' or 'missed call' when it is 'yet to be missed!'
The common term is
missed call
Since the type of call is intentionally not to be answered (usually the caller will hang up after a ring of two) and it will show up as "missed" on the recipients ...
- 66.3k
7
votes
Why is it "crouching tiger hidden dragon" but not "crouching tiger hiding dragon"?
Yeah, basically, what TypelA said in their answer.
But then there is also the issue of grammar, I think. In "crouching tiger hidden dragon", both "crouching" and "hidden" ...
- 10.1k
7
votes
In the sentence "The table was set for lunch" is "set" a verb or an adjective?
Let's set the table for dinner. [i.e. put out forks, knives, spoons, glasses, plates, etc.]
[A Mother says] I usually set the table for dinner but sometimes my kids do. It is set by them.
[To father;] ...
- 47.4k
7
votes
Is "molten" the past participle of "melt"?
Normally, only viscous liquids with a very high melting-point are molten, especially when something that’s normally very solid gets so hot that it changes and becomes hazardous, like molten rock, ...
- 8,501
7
votes
"I don't want to get bit by mosquitoes"-Is that correct?
In standard English, the "past participle" is "bitten" not "bit" (like "forgotten" as opposed to "forgot".
"Bit" in this sense is archaic (...
- 76.5k
7
votes
"I don't want to get bit by mosquitoes"-Is that correct?
Language all depends on context. Also known as the register. The register could be formal or informal. So your answer could be perfectly correct depending on context.
So, in the North of England, for ...
- 106
6
votes
what does it mean by "used to" in the context below?
This is easy to understand when explained simply:
to be used to + verb with ing (gerund: living):
We are used to living = We are accustomed to living
VERSUS
Subject + used to + verb without ing (...
- 47.4k
6
votes
Accepted
I was chose or I was chosen?
I was chosen is correct. The passive voice always takes the past participle form of the verb, not the simple past. So, I chose, I was chosen.
With most verbs (all the regular ones, and many of the ...
- 15.1k
6
votes
Why is it "crouching tiger hidden dragon" but not "crouching tiger hiding dragon"?
The reason it is not "Crouched Tiger Hidden Dragon" is already included in TypeIA's answer. Unlike the dragon, the tiger is taking a deliberate action to crouch. There is a tiger that is ...
- 3,274
5
votes
Accepted
Past participle vs being+past participle
tl;dr
The two participle clauses you cite are in the passive voice, and being puts them in the present continuous tense. They are continuous passive participle clauses.
Compare:
Continuous ...
5
votes
Which of the two words sounds more natural and common to native speakers? “Though merging/merged...”
Merged and merging mean something different.
In your sentence they are used as participles- one present participle the other Perfect participle.
Merging would mean in your sentence that they are ...
- 193
5
votes
Difference between did and does
Yes, the reasoning is correct.
In asking whether Mr. ABC replies to your messages,
Does Mr. ABC reply to your messages?
asks whether Mr. ABC will reply to messages based on past experience. This ...
- 1,961
5
votes
I would like to know if I should use "ran" or "run"
This is one of those cases that confuses a lot of people, because it doesn't follow the usual rules.
To make a passive voice infinitive (which is what you're doing here), you combine "to be" ...
- 5,839
5
votes
In the sentence "The table was set for lunch" is "set" a verb or an adjective?
The table was set for lunch.
"Set" is ambiguous here between an adjective and a verb.
If it describes a state resulting from a prior action then it's an adjective in a complex intransitive ...
- 17.3k
5
votes
Accepted
What does this past participle attribute refer to?
The phrase in italics modifies "personal judgments" (not including "catalogs of").
The rule for determining what a relative clause should modify is the closest noun that fits the ...
- 51k
4
votes
What is the difference between: "being+adjective" and "being+past participle"?
The present participle plus past participle is understood to supply the reason or basis for the action in the matrix clause. The combination of participles expresses a fact and the fact is understood ...
- 133k
4
votes
what does it mean by "used to" in the context below?
The idiom SUBJ used to VERB, where the verb is use, does mean "SUBJ made a practise of VERB in the past"; but BE used to VERBing is a different idiom. Here used is an adjective derived from the ...
- 175k
4
votes
Accepted
Closed vs was closed
Both are grammatical. The first is much more idiomatic.
I haven't got a definite answer for why it is preferred; but I think it is because
it doesn't invite the question "Who closed it", where the ...
- 76.5k
4
votes
Has been or had been
I believe you're looking for: "He is not in the photo, as he was the photographer."
- 51
4
votes
How differentiate between -able and -ed adjectives?
You cannot find any reference to such a rule because there is no such rule.
In general, the past participle of any transitive verb can be turned into an adjective. Similarly, adjectives can be ...
- 32.1k
4
votes
How can we identify that "It's freezing", freezing is an adj not verb+ing?
When a verb acts as an adjective, it is called a participle adjective. Sometimes verbs or verbal phrases in English can act nouns. These are called gerunds.
You can usually tell the meaning from the ...
- 424
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