Similar indeterminacy occurs with
-ed forms. Again,
we can generally use very to determine whether the
-ed word is adjectival or verbal
The bomb was
detonated The bomb was very detonated This document is
hand-written This document is very
hand-written My house was
built in only twelve
weeks My house was very built in only twelve weeks Ten people were
killed Ten people were very
killed The inability to supply
very in these cases indicates a verbal rather than an adjectival construction. However,
this testis less reliable with -ed forms than it is with
-ing forms, since
very can sometimes be supplied in both the adjectival and the verbal constructions
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