Grammaticality in Context – Can We Use Adjectives and Leave Out ‘Being’?

grammaticality-in-context

I saw this somewhere. In social media, I believe. I don't remember the whole sentence:

… in spite of the fact you can't deny the liminal state between exasperated and agitated. (I hope I write it correctly)

Shouldn't 'being' be there before exasperated and agitated? I mean, every time I see an adjective, I believe it has a contruction be+adjective.

Best Answer

In this context, exasperated and agitated are not being used as adjectives. They're being used as nouns. Specifically, they are naming conditions or states of being. It would be less idiomatic, but you could rephrase like this: "...between the condition of being exasperated and the condition of being agitated."

This kind of phrase, which uses adjectives like nouns, is fairly common. Here are some examples:

  • There's a big difference between well-off and rich.
  • Fast is better than slow.
  • Happy is the best way to be.

Sometimes nominalization (making a non-noun into a noun) is done by changing the word. In fact, there are related, nominalized forms of exasperated and agitated: exasperation and agitation. This sentence, could have used those forms - i.e. "...the liminal state between exasperation and agitation" - and there are probably style guides that would recommend the use of those nouns, but it's not mandatory.

Here's a useful discussion of the subject on the English Language and Usage site: Is there a term for the use of adjectives as nouns?

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