MADE - a VERB or an ADJECTIVE in the example: "This car is MADE of steel." Please, help

Question

I understand that the word MADE is a verb by default, and this is an example with it in a passive voice:

"The cars are made of steel."

But can it be an adjective? As a characteristic of something, like in this example:

"This car is made of steel" or "This desk is made of hard wood"

Thanks

If "made" in your example were an adjective, we could modify it with "very" as in: This car is very made* of steel* or we would have the comparative form, e.g. “This car is more made / mader of steel than* that one” The term could stand alone as in "This car is smart" ---> "This car is made*" However, not one of these examples with "made" is grammatical or idiomatic. — Mari-Lou A, Mar 06 '20 at 08:02
It's a verb as always. Just that made of is a set phrase, almost an idiom, meaning "produced using a material or a thing." Also, made out of, made from. HTH. — Kris, Mar 06 '20 at 08:20

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 06 '20 at 05:02

1

Cannot find the reference, forgive me, but here goes.

The verb in these cases is the word 'is', not 'made'. 'Made of' works as an adjective to describe the nature of the car and the desk. It is [very] old fashioned but still correct to say that the desk is 'of wood' and that the car is 'of steel'. The idiom Made of describes the fundamental nature of the object, not its process of construction or action of being made.

answered Mar 06 '20 at 05:02

Elliot

200

IS MADE is definitely the PV of the verb, but it does the function of an adjective. – Ram Pillai Mar 06 '20 at 06:31
The construction is referred to as a stative passive. – Phil Sweet Mar 06 '20 at 19:27
I cede to your wisdom. I had not the time to work it out. – Elliot Mar 16 '20 at 04:53

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 06 '20 at 05:21

sure.

There is the sentence structure predicate adjective.
(1) The car is red. (2) The weather was nice. (3) English grammar is difficult.

All verbs have a form called their past participle.
(1) to write --> written (2) to bake --> baked (3) to fly --> flown

Past participles can modify nouns, and thus be adjectives, such as:
(1) the plays written by Shakespeare (2) the cakes baked by my mom (3) the b29 flown by the USAF

So, technically speaking, these all follow BOTH the predicate adjective sentence structure, as well as the passive voice sentence structure:
(1) The plays were written by Shakespeare.
(2) The cakes were baked by my mom.
(3) The b29 was flown by the USAF.

Active voice:
(1) Shakespeare wrote the plays.
(2) My mom baked the cakes.
(3) The USAF flew the b29.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

In traditional grammar, the example is analysed as a passive as follows:

1...This car.......is............made................ of ............steel"

...subject .......verb...past participle...preposition... noun

Noun Phrase.[...........verb...............]..[adverbial modifier]

A more advanced version would have

2...This car............ is........ made......... of ............steel"

...subject .........verb.....adjective... preposition... noun

Noun Phrase....verb......adjective....[adverbial modifier]

Noun Phrase....verb.....[........adjectival modifier...........]

The test for an adjective is often "adding 'very' and see if it makes sense. HOWEVER, this does not work with ungradeable adjectives, e.g. *"She was very pregnant." (wrong) and "made" is an ungradeable adjective.

OED made(adj): Produced or obtained by making as distinguished in some way from other modes of origin or acquisition; resulting from human activity.

1981 A. B. Facey Fortunate Life 44 The road was just a winding track—there were no made roads in those days.

MADE - a VERB or an ADJECTIVE in the example: "This car is MADE of steel." Please, help

3 Answers3