eslHQ Home
User Name Password
Lost Password? | Join eslHQ.com, it's FREE!
View today's posts
Search Extras Help   

Reply
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Unread Dec 18th, 2008, 08:03 pm
punch_buggi's Avatar
eslHQ Member
 
Join Date: Sep 25th, 2008
Location: South America
Age: 43
Posts: 13
punch_buggi is on a distinguished road
Default Homonym Hardships

OK!

This makes absolutely no sense to me...

Don't get me wrong, I love this site, it's very informative... but I have run in to something that has created a doubt in my mind:

Homonym List - Homonym List for English Learners - Letters F - L

Find - fined

find - verb -> to discover
I often find coins at the beach.

fined - adjective -> charged a penalty
He was fined $50 for illegal parking.

I do not understand how the word "fined" can be considered an adjective. isn't this the past tense of the verb "to fine (someone)", or "to be fined"?

In the above sentance "He was fined $50 for illegal parking" the word "fined" cannot be translated to Spanish under the guise of an adjective; it must fall under the verb category, am I correct?

I would appreciate any knowledge or ideas on this subject... I'm by-passing this one for now (I'm preparing lessons for tomorrow), I think it can wait ;-)

Thanks
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Unread Dec 19th, 2008, 06:09 am
Sue
 
Join Date: Oct 8th, 2006
Location: Milan
Posts: 1,406
susan53 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Homonym Hardships

You're right - it's not an adjective. This is a passive construction so here it's a past participle.

The court fined them $50
They were fined $50 (by the court)


The confusion arises because past participles can have an adjectival function - for example I was surprised to hear that ...

How do you know which it is? Try adding very. If you can, then it's an adjective, if not a participle. So :

I was very surprised to hear that ... is fine, but *They were very fined is not. So surprised is acting adjectivally, while fined is a "straight" participle.

That anyway is the explanation (simplified a bit) that you'll find in the grammar books. I actually think it doesn't always stand up to investigation, but it works fine for this example.
__________________
An ELT Notebook
The DELTA Course
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 2 (0 members and 2 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Find the Best TEFL, TESL, TESOL & CELTA Certification Courses - User Submitted Ratings & Reviews for Online, Distance & Abroad TEFL Courses. Over 3,500 reviews of 100+ TEFL schools!

Teach English in Thailand - Onsite and Combined TEFL certification courses in Phuket, Thailand.


Free ESL Flashcards




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:15 am.

All materials from this website are for classroom-use only. Digital redistribution of materials, in part or in whole, is strictly forbidden!

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2