Rebecca Wheeler wrote: > I think, therefore I am = I think, therefore I exist. > John is ___ = John is happy and well rested. NOT "John exists happy and well > rested." > > so, the 'BE' verb in "I think, therefore I am" is of the meaning "exist." If > there were to be any post-verbal modifiers on it, they would be adverbial in > nature, methinks -- like "I am happily, robustly, etc." Yes, of course "BE" has these two meanings. It seems to me, however, that we wouldn't say, "I am happily." Instead we would say, "I exist happily." In fact, "I am happily" sounds like a case of first language interference in a non-native speaker. This meaning of "BE" doesn't seem to take an adverbial modifier (at least I can't think of one). How, I wonder, would we explain this phenomenon? Curiously yours, Paul E. Doniger [log in to unmask]