[Grammar] "hurt" in "He played hurt."

Dear Teacher,

I am confused and would appreciate your help.

What is the part of speech of "hurt" in the sentence, "He played hurt"?

My dictionaries say "hurt" is either a verb or adjective, and there is no mention of use as and adverb. I don't see anywhere that a past participle can be used as an adverb. If it is an adjective, it would seem that "played" would be a linking verb but I don't see it listed as a linking verb anywhere. What do I make of this sentence?:shock:

Context?

freezeframe said:

Context?

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The context of the sentence would be, "he" played in the football game even though he was injured.

In that context it must surely be an adjective.

He played in the game, hurt (tired, unhappy, etc) though he was.

Until I read that context, which would have been helpful in the original post, I took it to mean 'He pretended to be hurt' - as in 'he played dead'.

It would still be an adjective.

Rover

Rover_KE said:

Until I read that context, which would have been helpful in the original post, I took it to mean 'He pretended to be hurt' - as in 'he played dead'.

It would still be an adjective.

Rover

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My understanding too. I suspect that the context given by the OP might not be right. Where did you find the expression, grammarstudent?

birdeen's call said:

My understanding too. I suspect that the context given by the OP might not be right. Where did you find the expression, grammarstudent?

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Thank you. The sentence is from an interview article of an athelete. I found many similar usages on the internet, such as, "Shaun Rogers says in radio interview he played hurt last year."

Anyway, if this is an adjective, how is it that it comes right after a verb? Can an adjective modifying the subject come right after a verb like this? It would make sense to me if "played" were a linking verb, but I'm guessing it is not....

grammarstudent said:

Can an adjective modifying the subject come right after a verb like this?

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"Yes," he said, exhausted.

ps: My original thought was exactly the same as those of BC and of Rover. If we are to give satisfactory responses, we need CONTEXT, or, as freezeframe wrote, "Context". Capitalised or not, it's essential.

He played (even though he was) hurt. The parenthetical is omitted.