Talk:ajar

Seems more like an adjective to me. "The door is ajar" sounds right. Hippietrail 01:44, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I'm still not convinced it's an adverb. Some simple and common verbs also work as a copula (like "to be") and as such can have an adjective as complement. For instance when we say "I feel sick" it doesn't mean that "sick" is an adverb describing a way of feeling but that "feel" is playing the role of the verb "am".

Probably multiple ways to analyze this one which is what's so cool about language (: &mdash; Hippietrail 00:36, 31 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I agree. Just like with akimbo, the language evolves to make the word, originally part of a phrase, stand for the whole phrase. Webster1913 interprets this newer usage as a shift in the part of speech, too. Whatever we call it, the examples are valuable to show typical usage. Długosz

dutch adverb
I'm dutch and I've never heard this word: akkere, it doesn't exist as far as I'm aware of.

However, looking at the german translation I think what is meant is "keren" which just means "to turn".

Which doesn't make much sence anymore with the original explenation... since you seem to be looking for a word which indicates a partially or opened door?

In dutch if the door is partially opened we call it "de deur staat op een kier" deur is door. "staat" indicates the state, deur = "door" and "kier" indicates its just opened a little bit..

Open is just open in dutch, its the same word as in english. "de deur is open" just says the door is open.

RFV discussion: May–October 2012
Rfv-sense: adverb. Is this just the use of an adjective? The door had been left ajar could be the same as the door had been left open or the flame had been left extinguished, where each thing is just an adjective, is that right? &mdash;Internoob 22:50, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
 * It's possible to read it either way, but the OED views it as only adverbial. Militating against its being an adjective, perhaps, is the scarcity of attributive use (like ‘the ajar door’, which exists, but sounds very wrong to me). Ƿidsiþ 07:27, 8 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I find "the ajar door" just as bad as you, but that's pretty common for adjectives with the prefix a- where that represents an original preposition; compare "the asleep child", "his askew hat", "the statue's akimbo arms", "an askance glance". (Also "in awake life": it turns out that the a- there didn't start life as a preposition, but it seems to have picked up this pattern by analogy.) —Ruakh TALK 15:01, 8 May 2012 (UTC)


 * RFV-passed. The term is clearly widespread, and the POS is correct per the OED and preceding discussion. - -sche (discuss) 20:24, 1 October 2012 (UTC)