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Stative passive

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Latest post Thu, Aug 6 2009 7:40 AM by Mister Micawber. 3 replies.
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Believer  +  446841 Tue, 27 Nov 07 09:50 AM

Hi,

I was checking out the book by Betty Schrampfer Azar called Understanding and Using English Grammar, third edition, for more information on stative passive and saw these sentences in Chart 11-5, page 225:

(g) Ann broke the window yesterday.

(h) The window was broken by Ann.

(i) Now the window is broken. 

I think its side explanation has noted that the past participle functions as an adjective. Of g, h, and i, the sentence showing the characteristics of  stative passive is i. Is 'broken' in the 'i' sentence an adjective?  How would a person make sure that it is not a past participle?
Believer
Joined on Mon, Jan 2 2006
Contributing Member 1,969
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Cool Breeze  +  446858 Tue, 27 Nov 07 11:30 AM
Hi Believer

In my opinion broken is a past participle in sentence (i). It is just used as an adjective, or you could say it is used adjectivally. This is possible in English, and it is necessary as well, because there are hardly any inflections in English and yet it must be possible to convey different meanings.

The door is closed at 9 o'clock. (Refers to the act of closing.)
The door is closed all night. (Refers to the state the door is in, it's not open, it is closed.)

Should the closing of the door be such a strenuous process that it takes all night, I don't know how to express that neatly. In my language I would simply say: The door is closed all night, but use a different form of door. In English there is no form for that. I don't know what your native language is, Believer, but if it is Swedish, you will have noticed that as there are three different passive structures in the language, no similar ambiguity is possible because action and state are expressed with different passives.

Cheers
CB

PS: I hope I haven't made many typos. I have a brand-new laptop and some keys are in different places.Smile [:)]
PS 2: I just noticed two and corrected them.
Cool Breeze
Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006
Senior Member 3,970
"I hope you'll all live to be 150 years old - and the last voice you hear is mine!" Frank Sinatra on stage in Oslo, Norway, 28 September 1991
Related discussions
Anonymous, 108 days ago
which one is true "it's blessed me" or "it's bleesed for me"

 

txs

Mister Micawber  +  849481 Thu, 06 Aug 09 07:40 AM
Neither seems right.  What would you like to say?
Mister Micawber
Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004
Yokohama
Veteran Member 30,788
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'
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