The water ran/was running clean.

[navi tasan]

1) The water ran clean.
2) The water was running clean.

Do these mean that the water became/was becoming clean because of running, or that it ran/was running and was clean?

Is #1 saying that the water became clean or that it was clean and was running?
Is #2 saying that the water was becoming clean as it was running or that it was clean and was running?

 

[SoothingDave]

Neither has any sense of "becoming."

 

[emsr2d2]

They both mean that the water that came out of the tap was clear (that's what we'd use in BrE, rather than "clean"). The only difference is the tense.

 

[jutfrank]

Okay, I'm going to disagree with the others and say that I think there could be some sense of becoming, which is much more likely to be interpreted in 1 than 2.

On such an interpretation, you've got this:

The water ran [until it was] clean.

You might imagine water coming out of a faucet, for example.

 

[Annabel Lee]

. . . I think there could be some sense of becoming, which is much more likely to be interpreted in 1 than 2.

On such an interpretation, you've got this:

The water ran [until it was] clean.

You might imagine water coming out of a faucet, for example.

I agree with Jutfrank. Perhaps this copular use of "run" is slightly old-fashioned, but I think it still works. One article I have gives the sentence "The well ran dry" to illustrate the copular usage of "run." I was also thinking about "run cold" -- e.g.:

• "After pulling a robe on over her flannel pajamas, she stumbled into the bathroom and flipped on the hot water. 'Ouch, too hot.' Another minute later, she tested the water temperature, declared it to be perfect, and slipped under the spray until the water ran cold." (source)

 

[SoothingDave]

Sure, if you add the word "until," it changes the meaning.

Context always matters. The original, given sentences do not contain any sense of "becoming."

 

[jutfrank]

I didn't mean to add the word 'until'. My words in brackets were just to show one possible interpretation.

Honestly, when I first read the original post, especially sentence 1, the question had already appeared in my mind as to what the sentence means, before I read navi tasan's question so I'm comfortable saying it's ambiguous.

I'm thinking that this sense of becoming is actually 'built in' to the construction 'run + adjective'.

 

[Annabel Lee]

Context always matters. The original, given sentences do not contain any sense of "becoming."

The originals have no context, though, so their context is up for grabs, isn't it?

What about a plumbing context? Let's imagine that the speaker of (1) below is a plumber:

1) [It took some time to flush the pipes, but, by and by,] the water ran clean.

 

[emsr2d2]

I agree with those saying that, without any further context, neither sentence contains any suggestion of "becoming". As all the above examples show, in order to reach that potential meaning, more words need to be added.