[Grammar] He lay propped against the pillows.

[kadioguy]

prop
verb

He lay propped against the pillows.

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/prop_2
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Can I take it to mean:

He lay (and was) propped against the pillows.

I think that the 'propped' is in the past passive voice, rather than in the past active voice.

If it was the latter, the sentence would be He lay propping himself against the pillows.

Is that right?

 

[jutfrank]

propped against the pillows tells us about the way he lay. I think you can imagine that quite easily, right?

 

[kadioguy]

propped against the pillows tells us about the way he lay. I think you can imagine that quite easily, right?

So 'propped' here is a past participle in the passive voice. We can take it to mean:

He lay while (he was) propped against the pillows. Or He lay (and was) propped against the pillows.

Is that correct?

 

[GoesStation]

No. I see it as an adjective. But does the analysis really help you understand its meaning?

 

[Phaedrus]

So 'propped' here is a past participle in the passive voice. We can take it to mean:

He lay while (he was) propped against the pillows. Or He lay (and was) propped against the pillows.

Is that correct?

I agree with Jutfrank and GoesStation that propped against the pillows shouldn't be analyzed or understood as a reduced passive construction in that sentence. Consider how awkward it would be to add an agent by-phrase: He lay propped against the pillows by the nurse. I'd interpret by as having the spatial meaning "next to" there.

The past-participial phrase in He lay propped against the pillows is no more passive than the past-participial phrases in He lay covered with blankets and He lay buried in the cemetery. On the contrary, such phrases are every bit as adjectival as the adjective phrases in He lay quite still, He lay silent, He lay breathless, and He lay wide awake.

 

[kadioguy]

Thank you all.

As we know, both a past participle form (-ed, or sometimes irregular forms) and a present participle form (-ing) can function as an adjective, so how can we choose from them?

a. He lay propped against the pillows.

b. He lay propping against the pillows.

I would think that past participle forms (-ed, or sometimes irregular forms) imply 'perfect' (for example 'eaten' in 'I have eaten'), or 'passive' (for example 'changed' in 'it is changed'), or as an adjective [implying 'perfect' or 'passive'] (for example 'broken' in 'a broken leg', which means 'the leg has been broken').

What do you think?

 

[Phaedrus]

As we know, both a past participle form (-ed, or sometimes irregular suffixes) and a present participle form (-ing) can function as an adjective, so how can we choose from them?

a. He lay propped against the pillows.

b. He lay propping against the pillows.

Sentence (b) is ungrammatical. As a verb, prop is strongly transitive, requiring a direct object. You can't grammatically say, *[strike]He's propping[/strike].

You could say, He lay gazing at the ceiling. In that sentence, he was doing something in addition to lying.

In He lay propped against the pillows, he wasn't doing anything but lying in a certain condition.

Note that He is propped against the pillows need not be interpreted as passive, nor would it be except in special contexts -- e.g.:

He is propped against the pillows every evening by his nurse before he is served his dinner. That sentence does involve the passive.

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER

Kadioguy, if you find some extra time, you may wish to read a thread that was posted on this website some years back.

Just go to Google and type in these words: Thread Can two verbs be next to each other? 27 Feb 2012.