adverbs - How to analyse "Shot dead"



What kind of a term is 'shot dead'?


"He was shot dead." Is 'dead' an adverb here?


"He shot Sam dead." This is like a phrasal verb, but 'dead' isn't a preposition or particle.


Is 'shot dead' some weird kind of compound verb, or is 'dead' an exotic adverb, or is something else going on?



Answer



This is just like "His design improvement made the car fast", with "fast" modifying "car".


An instructive contrast is "He drove the car fast", in which "fast" is an adverb modifying "drive".


I don't think "dead" can be used to modify a verb, though it can be used as a "degree adverb" modifying an adjective, eg, "dead tired"


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