Grammar Question - I eat healthy

[Little_Nemo]

True, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is improper grammatical construction; you can’t just drop out the word for which the adjective is a modifier.

Sure you can. I mean, it is a sure thing that you can do this thing. It’s like “play nice” - the adjective is modifying an implied noun. As the verb and adjective convey the full meaning of the message, the noun itself is unnecessary. It’s no different then when you tell your kids to “go outside and play” and they understand you mean “go outside of the house and play a game.”

[Polycarp]

@DSYoungEsq

A “predicative” adjective is an adjective that refers to a noun, but which is used as part of the predicate of a sentence. Thus, in the sentence, “The man is smart,” “smart” is a predicative adjective. To be an adjective, it needs to modify a noun. Usually, predicative adjectives modify the noun used as the subject of the sentence.

“I eat healthy” is an incorrect construction. The adjective “healthy” must be modifying a noun, or it shouldn’t be used. It certainly isn’t modifying the pronoun “I.” So we have to assume that it is modifying some other, unstated, noun. If the concept being communicated is, “I eat healthy things,” then the adjective really isn’t predicative; its attributive and modifies “things.” But it is much more likely that the adjective is intended to communicate that the person eats in a “healthy way.” As such, it is an improper use of the adjectival form; the adverbial form should be used instead since the word is intended to inform us about the action of eating. And even if it IS intending to convey the former concept, it is not correct construction because you aren’t supposed to just drop out the noun to be modified and leave it to be assumed, which was the point I made in my earlier post.

Yes and no to both parts of your statement.

First, predicate adjectives are not necessarily copulative. As in our classic case of the odoriferous versus rhinovirally-ill dogs (which of course smell bad and badly respectively), the adjective points to the noun but can be influenced by the verb. “The dog is small” does a copulative relationship – “small” is a characteristic of the dog. But “The dog smells bad” is not saying that “it’s a bad dog” but rather that “it’s a bad-smelling dog.” “I eat healthy” means “I am a healthy-eating human being” – “healthy-eating” being shorthand for “having a properly nutritious, health-conducive diet.”

As for what’s “proper,” this has been an ongoing issue for me. There is such a thing as “proper formal English” and the regional colloquial use of adjective for adverb is not legitimate in it. So far, so good.

But in a broader context, all grammar, syntax, etc., is purely descriptive. What “proper English” describes is that form of English considered appropriate for formal written communication and for the most formal of oral usage. “It’s me” is documentedly the Queen’s English – Her Majesty herself is on record as using it, in conversation to two delighted little girls. What it is, is colloquial, informal English. Criticizing a well-spoken individual for informal colloquialisms in everyday conversation is just as much a solecism as the reverse – the use of a contraction or casual phrasing in a formal piece of writing.

[DSYoungEsq]

@Little Nemo

Sure you can. I mean, it is a sure thing that you can do this thing. It’s like “play nice” - the adjective is modifying an implied noun. As the verb and adjective convey the full meaning of the message, the noun itself is unnecessary. It’s no different then when you tell your kids to “go outside and play” and they understand you mean “go outside of the house and play a game.”

“Play nice” is improper English. That is not even an open question.

As Polycarp and I both agree (he’s somewhat more detailed about it), just because it isn’t “proper” doesn’t mean people won’t use it. Which leaves you having to decide just what to do when it comes to teaching it. Do you teach the rules and confuse the student, or do you concede the usage and, in the process, allow the continuing basification (how do you like THAT made up word??) of our noble, melifluous, badly mangled at present tongue?

[brujaja]

Well, since this thread has evolved into such an impressive display of real working knowledge of English grammar, I can’t help but wonder if one of you knows where I might find a downloadable random poetry generator that corrects for grammar?

The best one I have been able to find lo, these many years, is Random Verse Lab. (I modified it with separate categories for articles and prepositions, but I can’t make the articles & verb tenses etc. match)

Thanks.

[Excalibre]

@brujaja

Well, since this thread has evolved into such an impressive display of real working knowledge of English grammar, I can’t help but wonder if one of you knows where I might find a downloadable random poetry generator that corrects for grammar?

The best one I have been able to find lo, these many years, is Random Verse Lab. (I modified it with separate categories for articles and prepositions, but I can’t make the articles & verb tenses etc. match)

Thanks.

Sorry. No dice. Such things aren’t possible. Not if you want to have any adequate variety of sentences, anyway. Syntax is simply not fully understood as yet, and generating grammatical sentences is simply beyond the ken of computers. The best a computer could do is fill-in-the-blanks style text; generating grammatical sentences from scratch simply isn’t possible yet.