- “At least they died happy.”
In this sentence, ‘happy’(adj) comes after ‘died’(v).
No where adjective modifies the verb.
See the second sentence:
“They all lived happily ever after.”
Could you please explain the grammar points involved in this?
Thanks a lot.
Mrs. Alli
The grammar point is that the different parts of speech indicate different conditions:
He died happy = He was happy [about the sunshine or his new hat, perhaps] at the moment he died.
He died happily = He was happy that he was dying.
‘They all lived happily ever after’ is as much a fixed expression as an arguing point for its grammar.
Mister Micawber,
You have given explanation as below.
He died(v) happy(adj) = He was happy [about the sunshine or his new hat, perhaps]
at the moment he died.
But you didn’t give grammatical explanation how an adjective is allowed
to modify a verb.
Can I say in the above pattern : “Sita sings(v) beautiful(adj)/happy(adj).”?
Since I am confusing, I forwarding my argument.
Could you please clarify me well.
Thanks a lot.
Mrs. Alli
He died(v) happy(adj) = He was happy [about the sunshine or his new hat, perhaps]
at the moment he died. But you didn’t give grammatical explanation how an adjective is allowed to modify a verb. – The adjective does not modify the verb; it modifies the subject ‘he’.
“Sita sings(v) beautiful(adj)/happy(adj).”
In this sentence does the adjective - ‘beautiful’(adj) or ‘happy’(adj) modify the subject - ‘Sita’?
Could you please enlighten me?
Thanks.
Hi Hanifasmm,
In your sentence you have to ask yourself, does the word describe Sita herself or her singing? The answer is - the singing and that’s why you need the adverb ‘beautifully’. If you wanted to describe Sita, you would use the adjective ‘beautiful’.
Alan