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cerasus

1st October 2019, 11:45
I am on here as it's raining !
I agree with Pigale. The clue works fine too
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grunger

1st October 2019, 13:01
Pigale, Cerasus

I disagree. Be agitated = seethe. To drop the e, we need, "Be agitated endlessly".

As it is written, "endlessly" splits "be" and "agitated". Which of these 2 words is to be cut? It does not make sense.

I will write to the Editor, and let you know if I get an apology.

Pigale - Oui.
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pigale

1st October 2019, 13:18
Sorry Grunger but this does not change the fact that 'agitated' is NOT a verb, therefore cannot be an infinitive.

It's all a question of where one puts the adverb: before or after the
adjective it qualifies.

Whether the clue works or not was not the point I was questioning.
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grunger

1st October 2019, 13:35
Pigale

The point is that "to be agitated" = "to seethe" is a verb.

Also, the compiler split it when he did not need to.

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chrise

1st October 2019, 13:36
The mantra of not splitting infinitives is nonsense anyway. It derives from "schoolmen" in the 18th and 19th centuries, who based the idea on Latin, in which, as the infinitive is one word, it's not possible to split it.
There's simply no reason to follow this doctrine in English.
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cerasus

1st October 2019, 13:57
@Chris The "rule" of not ending a sentence with a preposition is also outdated and has become a 'myth' . Winston Churchill's famous comment : "This is the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put."comes to mind.
It is OK to say (especially in chat or conversation) "What are you up to ?
or "Is this the file you are referring to ? It feels natural and is acceptable to write that way (unless one is writing a legal document !!)
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pigale

1st October 2019, 14:25

I know that many grammar rules that used to be widely followed in
the past no longer seem so important nowadays. BUT this
was NOT the point I was making! I was only pointing out that
the word 'agitated' is not a verb as such,

In fact (to) be 'endlessly agitated' is what is called an 'adjectival phrase' in which the adjective 'agitated' (which answers to the
question 'to be what?') is qualified by the adverb 'endlessly'.

One of its synonyms happens to be a verb, just as 'to begrudge'
is the verbal synonym of the phrase 'to be GREEN WITH ENVY', in
which 'green with envy' also answers the question 'to be what?'

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orson

1st October 2019, 15:07
"Agitated" can be an adjective or a verb.

I am agitated. Here it is a participle derived from the verb "to agitate" and it is functioning as an adjective.

The problem had agitated me. Here it is a past participle, functioning as a verb.

The workers agitated for higher wages. Here it is a verb; simply the past tense of the verb "to agitate".

To be endlessly agitated. Here the verb is "to be" and "agitated" is a participle acting as an adjective. A word would have to come between"to" and "be" for there to be a split infinitive.
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pigale

1st October 2019, 15:14
Thank you Orson - I entirely agree with all that you say!
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orson

1st October 2019, 15:23
Merci, pigale.
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