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9.1.General discussion

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This section provides a general discussion of the adjectival use of participles and modal infinitives. We will discuss past/passive participles, present participles and modal infinitives in separate subsections.

I. Past/passive participles
II. Present participles
III. Modal infinitives

[+] I. Past/passive participles

This subsection discusses the attributive and predicative use of the past/passive participles, and concludes with a brief note on so-called pseudo-participles.

[+] A. Attributive use

The participles can be divided into two main groups: present participles such as vechtend'fighting' and past/passive participles such as gekust'kissed'. Both types can be used as attributive adjectives, as is clear from the fact illustrated in Table 1, repeated from Section 1.2, that they exhibit attributive inflection.

Table 1: Inflection of attributively used past/passive and present participles

de-nouns	singular		plural
definite	(i)	de vechtende jongen the fighting boy	(i)	de vechtende jongens the fighting boys
	(ii)	de gekuste jongen the kissed boy	(ii)	de gekuste jongens the kissed boys
indefinite	(i)	een vechtende jongen a fighting boy	(i)	vechtende jongens fighting boys
	(ii)	een gekuste jongen a kissed boy	(ii)	gekuste jongens kissed boys
het-nouns	singular		plural
definite	(i)	het vechtende kind the fighting child	(i)	de vechtende kinderen the fighting children
	(ii)	het gekuste kind the kissed child	(ii)	de gekuste kinderen the kissed children
indefinite	(i)	een vechtend-∅ kind a fighting child	(i)	vechtende kinderen fighting children
	(ii)	een gekust-∅ kind a kissed child	(ii)	gekuste kinderen kissed children

Section 5.1.1, sub II, has shown, however, that the -e inflection is absent in the case of irregular past/passive participles like geschreven'written' in (2) that end in -en (pronounced as schwa), but this is clearly due to a phonological condition that prohibits two immediately adjacent schwa-sounds in certain environments.

a.		de	geschreven-∅	brief
		the	written	letter

b.		de	verdreven-∅	koning
		the	dislodged	king

c.		de	gebeten-∅	hond
		the	bitten	dog

[+] B. Predicative use

We will assume for the moment that exhibiting attributive inflection is a sufficient condition for assuming adjectival status for a certain element (although we will argue in Section 9.2 that the situation is more complex in that at least some attributively used participles retain certain verbal properties). If this is correct, we would predict that, in at least some cases, participles can also be used as predicates. A problem is, however, that predicatively used adjectives are not morphologically marked, so that we cannot formally distinguish the “verbal" past/passive participles from their “adjectival" counterparts.
Given that the Dutch passive auxiliary zijn'to have been' is homophonous to the copular verb zijn'to be', the use of a participle with this auxiliary is expected to lead to ambiguity. The examples in (3) show that this expectation is indeed borne out; as indicated by the English renderings, the examples are ambiguous between an adjectival/state reading and a verbal/activity reading. The copular constructions in (3) are sometimes called adjectival passives; cf. Emonds (2006).

a.	De muur	is versierd.
	the wall	is decorated
	Copular construction: 'The wall is decorated.'
	Passive construction: 'The wall has been decorated.'

b.	Deze ham	is gerookt.
	this ham	is smoked
	Copular construction: 'This ham is smoked.'
	Passive construction: 'This ham has been smoked.'

Note in passing it is sometimes assumed that the auxiliary zijn'to be' in the passive versions of the examples in (3) is a perfect auxiliary and that the sentence contains a phonetically empty passive auxiliary; we ignore this for the moment but refer the reader to Section V6.2.2, sub II for a discussion of this.
A similar ambiguity as in (3) might be expected to arise with the verb worden'to become', which can also be used both as a passive auxiliary and a copular verb. The examples in (4) show, however, that this expectation is not borne out. The examples in (4) can only be interpreted as passive constructions, and thus only express the verbal/activity reading; cf. Verrips (1996).

a.	De muur	wordt	versierd.
	the wall	is	decorated
	Passive construction only: 'The wall is being decorated.'

b.	Deze ham	wordt	gerookt.
	this ham	is	smoked
	Passive construction only: 'This ham is being smoked.'

This restriction follows if adjectival past/passive participles are individual-level predicates: the examples in (5) show that individual-level adjectives like intelligent cannot enter the copular worden-construction either; cf. Section 1.3.2.2, sub IV, example (111).

a.		Jan	is ziek/intelligent
		Jan	is ill/intelligent

b.		Jan	wordt	ziek/*?intelligent
		Jan	becomes	ill/intelligent

The first two subsections below will show that adjectival past/passive participles do indeed exhibit more properties typical of individual-level predicates. The main goal of the following subsections, however, is to show the participles in (3) are ambiguous between an adjectival and a verbal reading by illustrating a number of tests that have been proposed to distinguish the verbal and adjectival past/passive participle.

[+] 1. Adverb selection

The two readings of the participle can be made more prominent by using an adverbial phrase that indicates a larger time interval, such as al jaren'for years', or an adverbial phrase that refers to a certain point in time, such as gisteren'yesterday'; the first favors the adjectival/state reading, whereas the latter favors the verbal/activity reading.

a.	De muur	is al jaren	versierd.
	the wall	is for years	decorated
	Copular construction only: 'The wall has been in a decorated state for years.'

b.	De muur	is gisteren	versierd.
	the wall	is yesterday	decorated
	Passive construction only: 'The wall was decorated yesterday.'

This adverb test is only applicable if the perfect passive auxiliary zijn'to have been' is used: if the durative passive verb worden'to be' is used, as in (7), both adverbial phrases are possible despite the fact that such examples only have the passive interpretation; see the discussion of (4) above, which has shown that worden blocks the adjectival/state reading of the participle. The acceptability of the adverbial phrase al jaren in (7a) is probably related to the durative nature of the passive auxiliary worden.

a.		De muur wordt al jaren versierd.
		Passive construction only: 'The wall has been being decorated for years.'

b.		De muur werd gisteren versierd.
		Passive construction only: 'The wall was decorated yesterday.'

The fact that copular constructions with zijn'to be' in (6a) cannot be modified by a punctual adverbial phrase of time supports our earlier suggestion that adjectival past/passive participles function as individual-level predicates, cf. ??Jan is vandaag intelligent'Jan is intelligent today'.

[+] 2. Expletive er-construction

The examples in (8) show that adjectival past/passive participles cannot occur in expletive er-constructions; the past/passive participle can only have a verbal/activity reading and we are therefore dealing with passive constructions.

a.	Er	is een muur	versierd.
	there	is wall	decorated
	Passive construction only: 'A wall has been decorated.'

b.	Er	is een ham	gerookt.
	there	is a ham	smoked
	Passive construction only: 'A ham has been smoked.'

The fact that copular constructions with zijn'to be' cannot take the shape of an expletive construction supports our earlier suggestion that adjectival past/passive participles function as individual-level predicates; *Er is een jongen intelligent'there is a boy intelligent'.

[+] 3. The passive door-phrase and on- prefixation

That the participle can be used as a passive participle is clear from the fact that a passive door-PP can be added, as shown in the examples in (9): since the door-phrase requires the participle to be verbal in nature, only the verbal/activity reading is available in these examples, and, accordingly, only the adverb gisteren'yesterday' can be used.

a.	De muur	is (gisteren/*al jaren)	door een kunstenaar	versierd.
	the wall	is yesterday/for years	by an artist	decorated
	Passive construction only: 'The wall was decorated by an artist (yesterday).'

b.	De ham	is door Peter	gerookt.
	the ham	is by Peter	smoked
	Passive construction only: 'The ham has been smoked by Peter.'

That the participle can also be used as an adjective is clear from the fact that it can be prefixed with the negative affix on-, as in the examples in (10). This is not possible with verbs, as will be clear from the contrast between, e.g., *onbreken'lit: to un-break' and onbreekbaar'unbreakable'; cf. Section 1.3.1, sub II. As a result, only the adverbial phrase al jaren'for years' can be used in the examples in (10).

a.	De muur	is (al jaren/ ??vandaag)	onversierd.
	the wall	is for years/today	not.decorated
	Copular construction only: 'The wall hasnʼt been in a decorated state (for years).'

b.	De ham	is ongerookt.
	the ham	is not.smoked
	Copular construction only: 'The ham hasnʼt been smoked.'

The examples in (11) show that on-prefixation and use of the passive door-phrase are incompatible; this follows, of course, from the conflicting requirements on the participles that these elements induce.

a.	*	De muur	is door een kunstenaar	onversierd.
		the wall	is by an artist	not.decorated

b.	*	De ham	is door Peter	ongerookt.
		the ham	is by Peter	not.smoked

[+] 4. Position of the participle

The two uses of the past/passive participles can also be distinguished by considering their position relative to the clause-final verb(s). Consider the two embedded counterparts of the main clauses in (3a) in (12). The fact that both types of temporal adverbial phrase can be used in (12a) shows that participles that precede the clause-final finite verb(s) are compatible both with the verbal/activity and the adjectival/state reading. Example (12b) shows that participles that follow the finite verb(s) cannot be modified by an adverbial phrase that indicates a long time interval and thus only have the verbal/activity reading.

a.	dat	de muur	(gisteren/al jaren)	versierd	is.
	that	the wall	yesterday/for years	decorated	is
	Copular construction: 'The wall has been decorated (for years).'
	Passive construction: 'The wall was decorated (yesterday).'

b.	dat	de muur	(gisteren/*?al jaren)	is versierd.
	that	the wall	yesterday/for years	is decorated
	Passive construction only: 'The wall was decorated (yesterday).'

The fact that (12b) does not allow the adjectival/state reading follows from the fact discussed in Section 6.2.2 that adjectives always precede the verb(s) in clause-final position, whereas past/passive participles can either precede or follow it/them; cf. V6.2 This is illustrated again in, respectively, the copular construction in (13a) and the perfect tense/passive examples in (13b&b').

a.	dat	de muur	<saai/onversierd>	is <*saai/onversierd>.
	that	the wall	dull/undecorated	is
	'that the wall is boring/undecorated.'

b.	dat	de kunstenaar	de muur	<versierd>	heeft <versierd>.
	that	the artist	the wall	decorated	has
	'that the artist has decorated the wall.'

b'.	dat	de muur	door een kunstenaar	<versierd>	is <versierd>.
	that	the wall	by an artist	decorated	is
	'that the wall was decorated by an artist.'

[+] 5. Summary

Table 2 summarizes the properties of the verbal and adjectival past/passive participles discussed in this subsection. These properties will play an important role in our more detailed discussion of the adjectival use of the past/passive participle in Sections 9.2 and 9.3.

Table 2: Properties of the verbal and adjectival past/passive participle

	verbal participle	adjectival participle
adverbial phrases of time interval/point	point	interval
expletive er-construction	+	—
door-phrase	+	—
on- prefixation	—	+
precedes/follows clause-final verb(s)	precedes or follows	precedes

[+] C. A note on pseudo-participles

Verbs and (gradable) adjectives differ in that only the latter can be modified by means of an intensifier like heel'very' or used as the input for comparative and superlative formation (although a potential counterexample to this claim is constituted by the past/passive participles of object experiencer psych-verbs; cf. the discussion of (59a)). These generalizations unfortunately cannot be used to distinguish adjectival past/passive participles from their verbal counterparts due to the fact that they are not gradable. Nevertheless, the generalizations can be used to distinguish verbal participles from so-called pseudo-participles, that is, adjectives that have the appearance of a participle, but do not have a verbal counterpart.
This can be illustrated by means of the form bekend in (14a), which means “confessed" if it functions as a passive participle, but “well-known" if it is used as an adjective. The two interpretations of (14a) can be distinguished by means of the generalizations given above. Due to the presence of a door-phrase, example (14b) can only be interpreted as a passive construction (see Table 2 in the previous subsection) and, as expected, the verbal participle cannot be modified by heel'very' or undergo comparative/superlative formation. In example (14c) the participle is modified by heel and has undergone comparative formation and, as a result, can only be interpreted as an adjectival predicate of a copular construction. We refer the reader to Section 4.1.2 for a more extensive discussion of comparative formation of participles and pseudo-participles.

a.	Zijn misdaad	is bekend.
	his crime	is confessed/well-known
	Passive construction: 'His crime has been confessed.'
	Copular construction: 'His crime is famous.'

b.	Zijn misdaad	is door hem	(heel) bekend/bekender.
	his crime	is by him	very confessed/more.confessed
	Passive construction only: 'His crime has been confessed by him.'

c.	Zijn misdaad	is heel	bekend/bekender dan die van haar.
	his crime	is very	well-known/better.known than that of her
	Copular construction only: 'His crime is very famous/more famous than hers.'

For completeness’ sake, note that example (14b) is perhaps marginally acceptable if we construe the door-phrase as causative, an option that becomes more salient if we use the copular worden'to become'; Zijn misdaad wordt door hem heel bekend/bekender'The crime is becoming famous/more famous due to him.' The meaning assigned to the participle makes it clear that we are dealing with a copular construction in this case.

[+] II. Present participles

Subsection I has shown that adjectival past/passive participles can be used both attributively and predicatively. This subsection briefly introduces the adjectival use of present participles. Table 3 shows that present participles can also be used attributively.

Table 3: The inflection of attributively used present participles

de-nouns	singular	plural
definite	de vechtende jongen the fighting boy	de vechtende jongens the fighting boys
indefinite	een vechtende jongen a fighting boy	vechtende jongens fighting boys
het-nouns	singular	plural
definite	het vechtende kind the fighting child	de vechtende kinderen the fighting children
indefinite	een vechtend-∅ kind a fighting child	vechtende kinderen fighting children

Therefore, we would expect them to occur in copular constructions as well, and the examples in (15) show that this indeed seems to be the case. Section 9.3.1, sub II, will show, however, this option is restricted to an extremely small set of verbs.

a.		De argumentatie	overtuigde	ons.
		the reasoning	convinced	us

b.		de	overtuigende	argumentatie
		the	convincing	reasoning

c.		De argumentatie	is/leek	overtuigend.
		the reasoning	is/seemed	convincing

[+] III. Modal infinitives

The examples in (16) show that the so-called modal infinitives are used both in attributive and predicative position. The use of the term modal is motivated by the fact, which will be discussed more extensively later, that these infinitives inherently express some notion of “ability" or “obligation".

a.	de	te lezen	boeken
	the	to read	books
	'the books that must/can be read'

b.	De boeken	zijn/blijken	(gemakkelijk/goed)	te lezen.
	the books	are/appear	easily/well	to read
	'The books are/appear (easily) accessible.'

The modal infinitive in example (16a) does not have the attributive -e, which is probably due to the fact that the en ending is pronounced as a schwa; see Section 5.1.1, sub II, and also the discussion of the examples in (2) from Subsection IA. Nevertheless, the fact, illustrated by the examples in (17), that modal infinitives can be coordinated with attributively and predicatively used adjectives strongly suggests that they do have the same syntactic status/function as the adjectives in the first conjunct.

a.	een	interessant	en	in alle opzichten	aan te bevelen	boek
	an	interesting	and	in all ways	prt. to recommend	book
	'an interesting book that can be recommended in all respects'

b.	Dit boek	is interessant	en	in alle opzichten	aan te bevelen.
	this book	is interesting	and	in all ways	prt. to recommend
	'This book is interesting and can be recommended in all respects.'

References:

Verrips, Maaike1996Potatoes must peel. The acquisition of the Dutch passiveUniversity of AmsterdamThesis
Vikner, Sten2006Object ShiftEveraert, Martin & Riemsdijk, Henk van (eds.)The Blackwell companion to syntax3Malden, MA/OxfordBlackwell Publishing392-436

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About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis

Category: Dutch Syntax

Publication date: 22 November 2023

Keywords: AdjectiveAdverbCopulaIndividual Level PredicatesParticiplePassivePassive ParticiplePast ParticiplePseudo-ParticipleStage-level AdjectiveStage-level PredicatesTime AdverbVerbal

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