Forum newsfeeds |  | | Notices | You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly at the top of your post. Please note, all posts are moderated by our in-house language experts, so make sure your suggestions, help, and advice house the kind of information an international language teacher would offer. If not, and your posts do not contribute to the topic in a positive way, they will be subject to deletion. | 
14-Feb-2005, 18:27
|  | Junior Member | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Country: Buenos Aires - ARGENTINA
Posts: 53
Current Location: Buenos Aires First Language: Spanish Member Type: English Teacher Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Quote: |
Originally Posted by notmyname216 According to the dictionary the word "asleep" is normally used as a adjective
and can also be used as an adverb. What is an example of a sentence where it is used as a adverb? |
Hi Notmyname!  Here, an example of "asleep" used as an adverb. The man lay asleep.
Bye!! maeve. | 
14-Feb-2005, 20:29
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 91
First Language: english Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Quote: |
Hi Notmyname! Here, an example of "asleep" used as an adverb:
| The man lay asleep.
Isn't "asleep" a adjective since "lay" is a linking verb? | 
14-Feb-2005, 20:44
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 13,536
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Member Type: Other Thanks: 73
Thanked 896 Times in 801 Posts
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Quote: |
Originally Posted by notmyname216 The man lay asleep.
Isn't "asleep" a adjective since "lay" is a linking verb? | I wouldn't say "lay" is a linking verb. Example: He laid the book on the table.  | 
15-Feb-2005, 00:25
|  | Junior Member | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Country: Buenos Aires - ARGENTINA
Posts: 53
Current Location: Buenos Aires First Language: Spanish Member Type: English Teacher Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Quote: |
Originally Posted by Casiopea You're welcome.
"asleep" functions as an adverb in both examples. It modifies the verb "feel" by describing how you fell, how your state of consciousness descended. Well, in fact the verb that "asleep" modifies is not "feel" but "fall". The past tense of "feel" is "felt". You mention it in the example below.
Adverbs answer s the questions, Who?, Where?, When?, How?, and Why. Adverb
I fell asleep
Test: How did I fall? => Answer: asleep
I fell fast asleep
Test: How did I fall? => Answer: fast asleep Adjective
I am asleep.
Test: What are you? => Answer: asleep
I fell asleep.
Test: *What are you fell? => Answer: asleep (* means, ungrammatical) | But in this last sentence, can't you ask "How did you fall" >>> asleep is the answer.
Cheers! Maeve  | 
15-Feb-2005, 00:27
|  | Junior Member | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Country: Buenos Aires - ARGENTINA
Posts: 53
Current Location: Buenos Aires First Language: Spanish Member Type: English Teacher Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Quote: |
Originally Posted by notmyname216 Given these sentences:
I was fast asleep.
I can fall fast asleep.
I fall fast asleep.
In the first sentence "was" is a linking verb, "fast" is a adverb, "asleep" is a adjective.
In the second sentence "fall" is a linking verb, "fast" is a adverb and "asleep" is a adverb.
Why is "asleep" in the second sentence a adverb (it has exactly the same
structure as the first sentence)?
Is "asleep" also a adverb in the third sentence? |
A question notmyname... what do you understand for "linking" verbs? Can you please provide me with the definition you have?
Thank you, Maeve  | 
15-Feb-2005, 00:50
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 91
First Language: english Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb This is my list of "linking verbs":
"Be,act,appear,become,fall,feel,get,grow,keep,lie, look,prove,remain,run"
"seem,smell,sound,stay,taste,turn"
Linking verbs are either verbs of sensation or verbs of existence.
Is my list wrong or incomplete? | 
15-Feb-2005, 00:56
|  | Junior Member | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Country: Buenos Aires - ARGENTINA
Posts: 53
Current Location: Buenos Aires First Language: Spanish Member Type: English Teacher Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb You are right notmyname. To lie is a copular verb so in the sentence "The man lay asleep" >> "asleep" functions as an adjective, not as an adverb.
Thx for teaching me that!!  | 
15-Feb-2005, 02:15
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 25,410
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher Thanks: 6
Thanked 394 Times in 354 Posts
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Not all of them are always copula verbs.  | 
15-Feb-2005, 02:17
|  | Junior Member | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Country: Buenos Aires - ARGENTINA
Posts: 53
Current Location: Buenos Aires First Language: Spanish Member Type: English Teacher Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Quote: |
Originally Posted by RonBee I wouldn't say "lay" is a linking verb. Example: He laid the book on the table.  |
Hi RonBee!! I was referring to "lie">> its past is "lay". Maeve  | 
15-Feb-2005, 08:06
| | Junior Member | | Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 91
First Language: english Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
| | Re: use the word asleep as a adverb Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee
I wouldn't say "lay" is a linking verb. Example:
He laid the book on the table.
| In the above example isn't "laid" a action verb?
Isn't "lay" a linking verb, in the example below?
The pieces lay scattered over the floor.
Is a "copular" verb the same as a "linking" verb? | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes | Linear Mode |
Posting Rules
| You may post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT. The time now is 23:53. |  |