Adverbialstates

Adverbialstates are a linguistic concept referring to adverbs or adverbial phrases that express a state of being or a condition. Unlike adverbs that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs by indicating manner, time, place, or frequency, adverbialstates describe the circumstances or situation in which an action or state exists. They often function as complements to verbs, particularly copular verbs like "be," "seem," "become," or "appear," to complete the meaning of the predicate.

For example, in the sentence "She is happy," "happy" functions as a predicative adjective. However, if we consider a sentence like "She is abroad," "abroad" functions adverbially, indicating her state or location. Similarly, "He is in trouble" uses the adverbial phrase "in trouble" to describe his state. These adverbialstates do not typically answer questions like "how," "when," or "where" in the traditional adverbial sense, but rather "in what state" or "under what condition."

Adverbialstates can be formed by single adverbs, such as "alone" in "He lived alone," or by prepositional phrases functioning adverbially, like "in love" in "They were in love." The distinction between a standard adverbial and an adverbialstate can sometimes be subtle, but the core idea of adverbialstates is to convey a condition or status rather than a direct modification of an action's execution. They contribute to the overall meaning of the sentence by providing context about the subject's situation.