In the sentence ” They want me to do this sober “, why is an adjective being used to describe a verb ( do )?

grammargrammaticalitymeaningmeaning-in-contextphrase-meaning

In a movie, the interviewer wanted to interview someone, and then his friend offered him a drink, but the interviewer said " They want me to do this sober ". "They" refers to his bosses.

Shouldn't he say "soberly" instead of "sober" ?

Thanks in advance

Best Answer

In the sentence " They want me to do this sober ", why is an adjective being used to describe a verb ( do )?

It isn't. "Sober" is an adjective: It is not a flat adverb (if such beasts exist.)

"They want me to do this sober" = "They want me to do this whilst I am sober."

The "whilst I am" has been omitted. Of course, "whilst I am sober." is adverbial but "sober" itself, is not.

Edit: I had missed the post by Anthony Grist when I answered. I see that this is practically a repeat.

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