Adjective or verb

[Anonymous]

Dear teachers,

I have read a title "Cirque du Soleil Accused of AIDS Bias".
I don't know the word -"accused" is adjective or verb.
I know the Cirque was accused of AIDS.
Could you elaborate the how to use this sentence.
Thank you very much.

HK-1

 

[Tdol]

This is a shortened pharse, which we use in headlines to save space and focus on the facts. The full sentence would be something like 'The Cirque do Soleil has been accused of AIDS bias', which makes 'accused' a past participle and a verb here. AIDS bias means that they presumably don't employ people who are HIV positive.;-)

 

[Casiopea]

Dear teachers,

I have read a title "Cirque du Soleil Accused of AIDS Bias".
I don't know the word -"accused" is adjective or verb.
I know the Cirque was accused of AIDS.
Could you elaborate the how to use this sentence.
Thank you very much.

HK-1

I agree with tdol's response. In addition, the sentence is passive in structure:

Passive
"Cirque du Soleil has been accused of AIDS bias by someone."
==> accused is a participle in form, a past participle, and it functions as part of the passive verb form: has been accused.

Active
"Someone accused Cirque du Soleil of AIDS bias."
==> accused is an active verb in form, a past tense verb, and functions as the main verb.

Active
"Someone has accused Cirque du Soleil of AIDS bias."
==> accused is a past participle in form and functions as part of the Present Perfect verb form 'has accused'.


All the best,