Can Two Verbs be Next to Each Other?

I think I have a interesting question, since google couldn't handle it. I'm trying to proof read a story, and this sentence doesn't sound right to me, "Her back lay propped against a fruitless tree."

The two verbs "lay" and "propped" sound weird together, but at the same time they kind of don't. The narrative of the story is third person pas tense, so I know that it should be "laid".

I think the root of the problem is that the author is using "propped" as an adjective when it's not.

How would you guys correct this sentence? If at all...

Thanks for your help!

Raharu said:

The two verbs "lay" and "propped" sound weird together, but at the same time they kind of don't. The narrative of the story is third person pas tense, so I know that it should be "laid".

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Not a teacher.

Lay is the past simple form of the verb lie(If something lies in a particular place, position or direction, it is in that place, position or direction).

aachu said:

Not a teacher.

Lay is the past simple form of the verb lie(If something lies in a particular place, position or direction, it is in that place, position or direction).

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Oh, I see. That makes sense. Thanks.

I still feel like I don't often see two verbs next to each other though, is there some sort of rule that I don't know about that?

Raharu said:

Oh, I see. That makes sense. Thanks.

I still feel like I don't often see two verbs next to each other though, is there some sort of rule that I don't know about that?

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:shock:

Raharu said:

the author is using "propped" as an adjective

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***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) Congratulations, Raharu. I believe that you are 100% correct.

(2) I have been thinking about your question all morning and checking my books. I may have the answer.

(3) Some books would analyze your sentence like this:

Her back = the subject.

lay = verb.

propped. = the past participle of " to prop." Many times, we used a participle (ending in -ing or in -ed) as an adjective,

just as you said.

So we can say that "propped" refers to "her back."

Of course, saying that "her back was propped" is incomplete. So we add "against a fruitless tree." I think that we call

those five words a prepositional phrase. It refers to "propped." (It tells us where her back was propped.)

(4) This construction (kind of sentence) is common in English. Here are two examples from A Grammar of Present-Day English

by Pence & Emery:

He became discouraged. ["discouraged" refers to "He."]

The package remained unwrapped. ["Unwrapped" refers to "The package."]

(5) Finally, I googled "lay propped" and found many results. Here are three:

He lay propped against the wall in the office.

Wounded soldiers lay propped up against the walls.

A short stack of books lay propped against the bowl.

I am not a teacher, but I wounder why you say "propped" is an adjective. To me, it seems like an adverb describing how her back laid.

SoothingDave said:

I am not a teacher, but I wounder why you say "propped" is an adjective. To me, it seems like an adverb describing how her back [STRIKE]laid[/STRIKE] lay.

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It's an adjective. It was propped, it did not lie 'proppedly'.

Compare she lay awkwardly (adverb) and she lay dead (adjective).

BobSmith said:

:shock:

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:-D

I see what you did there, and I like it, but I still feel like it's rare.

Plus, don't is a contraction of do and not, and not is not a verb.

I know it's a silly question, but I just thought I would ask.

TheParser said:

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) Congratulations, Raharu. I believe that you are 100% correct.

(2) I have been thinking about your question all morning and checking my books. I may have the answer.

(3) Some books would analyze your sentence like this:

Her back = the subject.

lay = verb.

propped. = the past participle of " to prop." Many times, we used a participle (ending in -ing or in -ed) as an adjective,

just as you said.

So we can say that "propped" refers to "her back."

Of course, saying that "her back was propped" is incomplete. So we add "against a fruitless tree." I think that we call

those five words a prepositional phrase. It refers to "propped." (It tells us where her back was propped.)

(4) This construction (kind of sentence) is common in English. Here are two examples from A Grammar of Present-Day English

by Pence & Emery:

He became discouraged. ["discouraged" refers to "He."]

The package remained unwrapped. ["Unwrapped" refers to "The package."]

(5) Finally, I googled "lay propped" and found many results. Here are three:

He lay propped against the wall in the office.

Wounded soldiers lay propped up against the walls.

A short stack of books lay propped against the bowl.

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Nice! Thank you very much!

I do feel it's not rare.
I enjoy finding examples of two verbs together. It's not difficult.
Does this help clarify things?

5jj said:

Does this help clarify things?

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I think you might have meant "Does this help clarify things?"

I was just testing to see if you were awake. ;-)

Raharu said:

I know it's a silly question, but I just thought I would ask.

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I thought it was a good question.

BobSmith said:

I thought it was a good question.

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Thanks.