Quote:
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Originally Posted by notmyname216 What about these sentences:
I fall fast asleep. ("asleep" is a adverb)
He went fast asleep. ("asleep" is an adjective)
Both sentences seem like they are structured the same.
Unless the difference is because "fall" is a linking verb and "went" is not. |
Well, "asleep" describes how I fall, and how I went. It describes the verb, so it functions as an adverb in both sentences.
If we look at a linking structure, we see that "asleep" described the subject, which is a noun, not the verb:
I am
fast asleep. (I = asleep; "asleep" is an adjective. It describes a noun)
With linking structures, the
subject complement modifies the subject, and since "I" a noun, "asleep" functions as an adjective in that structure.
Compare:
I
fell asleep. (verb+adverb)
I was
asleep. (Linking Structure: subject = adjective)